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This study aims to analyze whether good government management of the COVID-19 pandemic can increase the likelihood of vaccine uptake among poor people in Africa. The analysis is based on a sample of 18,010 people living in 34 African countries, drawn from data collected by Afrobarometer (Merged Round 8 data (34 countries), database, 2022). The econometric results, obtained using a bivariate probit regression, show that poverty significantly reduces the odds of accepting the said COVID-19 vaccine. However, acceptance of the vaccine increases among poor individuals when there is (i) trust in the government's published statistics on COVID-19, (ii) control of corruption by the government in managing the pandemic, (iii) individual confidence in the government's ability to ensure the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine, and (iv) belief that the Covid 19 vaccine will be more effective than religious prayer in the fight against this pandemic., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

To ensure its partners have the capacity to implement gender responsive projects, COL introduced an online training programme on gender equality and women's empowerment. This paper reports the methodology and results in measuring the efficacy of this online training at individual and organisational levels. The ability of individuals and organisations to plan and implement transformative actions with a gender perspective require adequate knowledge, skills and a change in attitudes. Given this need, the commonly used Knowledge, Attitude, Skills (KAS) model was used to measure the efficacy of this online training at individual and organisational levels by defining different dimensions of capacities with three learning domains -- Cognitive, Affective, Psychomotor (Bloom's Taxonomy). The baseline and the end line of KAS at the individual level on the six core gender capacities was established for comparison. Two questionnaires were designed to assess the learning achievements of the participants and to measure the efficacy of the training. An analysis of the study registers a clear trend of positive outcomes at the individual level regarding improved knowledge, attitudes and skills on gender equality that could be applied in their work. Furthermore, the paper reports that the organisations demonstrate an enabling environment for more gender equal policies, structures and practices and proposes ways to convert the success of this training by integrating it into the broader gender equality strategy of these organisations.

A learning crisis across Arabic-speaking countries is leading to human capital deficits, undermining efforts to reduce poverty and putting achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals at risk. The World Bank has introduced the concept of learning poverty to highlight this crisis -- measured as the percentage of 10- year-old children who are unable to read and understand a simple text. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, this affects around 6 in 10 children, and likely more, because of the COVID-19-related school disruptions. The World Bank has proposed a path to reduce learning poverty through advancing Arabic language teaching and learning. The proposed path comprises a set of purposeful actions that governments and stakeholders can take to reorient education systems so that they can best achieve essential core Arabic language skills and learning for all. This includes, for example, setting literacy goals, aligning instructional resources to follow a systematic phonetic approach with a focus on reading comprehension in a literature-rich environment, ensuring high-quality instruction, and identifying and intervening early with struggling readers. As the largest external financier of education in the developing world, the World Bank has a significant role to play in helping countries to recognize these key challenges and to mobilize resources to address them effectively and efficiently. This paper outlines the World Bank's approach and explores how it is taking shape in the World Bank's support to countries' education programs across the MENA region.

This paper interrogates the context that Poverty Reduction Strategy operates as a development policy framework implemented in Benin and Nigeria, and how this provides opportunities and constraints for the objective of poverty reduction. Also, it argues that within the context of a neo-liberal ideology and strategy of development which guide the formulation and implementation of poverty reduction strategy, poor developing countries have not experienced a reduction in poverty or a promised development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the impact of COVID-19 on vocational education and training, seeking to discern the outline of possible directions for its future development within the debates about VET responses to the pandemic. The discussion is set in its socio-economic context, considering debates that engage with the social relations of care and neo-liberalism. The paper analyses discourses that have developed around VET across the world during the pandemic, illustrating both possible continuities and ruptures that may emerge in this field, as the health crisis becomes overshadowed in public policy by the prioritisation of economic recovery and social restoration. The paper concludes that, alongside the possibility of a narrowing of VET to its most prosaic aims and practices, the health crisis could also lead to a re-conceptualisation that develops its radical and emancipatory possibilities in both the global south and north.

This paper is the second in a set of two on the extent to which Catholic and other faith-based schools are serving the poor well. Catholic and other faith-based schools reach millions of children who live in poverty, yet this does not necessarily mean that they are serving these children well enough. The paper considers two separate issues. First, beyond academic subjects, Catholic and other faith-based schools emphasise learning related to values and religion. Do they succeed in doing so? Based on small sample survey data and qualitative fieldwork, as well as broader data on parental satisfaction with schools, the paper provides a tentative and mostly positive answer to this question, at least from the view of parents. The second issue is where performance is weaker. Education systems are affected by a learning crisis in the developing world. All schools should ensure that students learn, but too often this is not the case. The second part of the paper documents this learning crisis and the fact that Catholic and other faith-based schools are not immune to it. This is done in part through a rapid review of the recent World Development Report on education's promise, and a companion piece for sub-Saharan Africa. Estimates of performance for selected African countries are also provided. The results are sobering: too many children are not learning while in school. Finally, the paper briefly summarises evidence from the literature on interventions that could improve learning, including in Catholic and faith-based schools. [For Part I of the series, see EJ1206878.]

Serving the poor is a prime component of the mission of Catholic and many other faith-based schools. Do the schools succeed in doing so? This paper and a companion paper focusing on learning aim to answer this question. In this paper, the focus is on schooling or enrolment in school. The paper considers first global and regional data on the number of students in Catholic preschools and nurseries, primary schools, and secondary schools. The data suggest that Catholic schools are located proportionately more in low-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. However, having schools in low income countries does not guarantee that they serve disadvantaged children. Relying on household survey data from Africa, the second part of the analysis suggests that while Catholic and other faith-based schools reach many children in poverty, they often serve children from better off households proportionately more. The last part of the paper considers the constraints faced by Catholic and other faith-based schools in reaching the poor. Some constraints are shared with other types of schools, but others are peculiar to Catholic and faith-based schools, especially in terms of the funding from households that they need to operate given no or only limited state support.

Comparing China's 2006 and 2015 Africa policies, this article reveals how China's political discourse has become more confident, practical, and depoliticised. In particular, this paper shows how education is allocated, promised, and embedded in China's 'shared' agenda, which is centred on development co-operation and mutual learning. It then reflects on the extent to which China may move towards traditional donors. This paper concludes that, despite fragmented convergences in the discourse and an increased recognition of a Chinese model, China maintains its distinctive role and position in the post-2015 era.PuP

This research article explores the concept that libraries as communication centres in sub-Saharan Africa can play a vital role in bringing poverty relief by providing greater access to information through modern technology. It discusses the patrons who can benefit from community information centres and explores their particular needs. I have researched how modern tools like the Internet, computers, e-readers and cell phones can bring valuable information to impoverished citizens. My research was conducted through reading research papers using article databases, books and Internet websites. The future for libraries in sub-Saharan Africa is bright, as new technology opens up vast opportunities to share information in a way that is accessible, affordable and adaptable to the needs of the African people. I recommend that librarians and relief organisations in Southern Africa seriously consider using modern technology to provide information that will empower its citizens. [Paper presented at the Pan-African Conference on Reading for All (7th, Gaborone, Botswana, 2011.)]

The developing world has continually faced tremendous challenges in providing social security and safety nets for its vast populations culminating in wider educational inequalities and extreme poverty. It is not uncommon in Sub-Saharan Africa to find rapacious wealth in the hands of a few co-existing with mass poverty. As a consequence, the majority of children in education have continually experienced low attainment levels and poor prospects in life. This paper discusses interrelationships between child poverty and educational inequalities since these aspects are critical to child development and social mobility and are poignant for developing nations if they are to re-align their economies competitively at a global level. The paper used an analytic review of existing survey data and literature on contemporary contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on establishing understanding on child poverty and its impacts on children's education and well being. In using data from the World Bank and United Nations agencies, the paper has been able to ascertain poverty indices affecting children; inadequate education investment levels; educational inequalities and how these have negatively impacted childhood education and development. Indications are that child poverty and educational inequalities continue to exist despite rising education investments in some countries. The paper posits strategies that developing nations may apply to improve childhood experiences and harness human capital, despite challenging levels of poverty.

This paper considers the 'hope' and 'disappointments' experienced over time about the results of rapid educational expansion, as well as the research agenda which aims to improve educational outcomes in the developing world and particularly in Africa. Our interest is in the development and nature of policy-oriented bodies of knowledge that address the issue of educational inequality in poor countries. More specifically, we examine the state of knowledge production in sociology of education in relation to the question of educational inequality. We do this through an exploration of its interface with economics of education, starting with an examination of literature in the developed world. We argue that there was an initial collaboration in the 1950s, shifting to something of a separation from the 1980s, to what could be seen as a colonization of education in research on developing countries. This is facilitated by the way in which sociology of education has developed into silos of topic-based research--reducing its explanatory and political power. Some silos are marginalized, and some are dominated by claims on 'what works' produced by economists.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the impact of fiscal space and governance quality on inclusive growth in African countries. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 28 African countries were analyzed from 2000 to 2020 using the generalized method of moment regression method. An inclusive growth index was developed using the principal component analysis (PCA) method. The PCA-derived index incorporates factors such as poverty, income inequality, economic participation and per capita income. Findings: The main findings suggest that fiscal space availability (de facto fiscal space and fiscal balance) promotes inclusive growth. The study also showed that lagged inclusive growth, digitalization and governance indicators positively influence inclusive growth. The study concludes that fiscal space availability fosters inclusive growth, but this effect is mediated by governance quality in Africa. Originality/value: Several studies examined the role of fiscal policy on inclusive growth. However, it is crucial to assess the fiscal space, that is, the financial capacity of the government to implement its fiscal policy without harming its financial stability. This paper, therefore, contributes to the existing literature by using de facto fiscal space indicator to comprehend fiscal dynamics contributing to inclusive growth. In addition, the paper uniquely constructs an inclusive growth index by including poverty severity, which considers both the incidence and depth of poverty and inequality in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper validates the threshold argument in the informality–poverty nexus. Recent literature and policy have argued the existence of a threshold in the relationship. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts dynamic panel threshold analysis, estimated within the framework of system Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) to control for endogeneity and simultaneity. Data from 40 selected sub-Saharan African countries between 1991 and 2018 are used for the study. Findings: Empirical results confirm the existence of an average threshold of 31% share of informality in GDP. Also, the paper finds that threshold of informality that addresses mild and severe poverty varies between 24.32 and 36.75%. Research limitations/implications: The work is limited to African economies. Evidence from other emerging and developed economies is suggested for further research. Practical implications: Overall, the empirical results indicate a threshold in the informality–poverty nexus. Therefore, an excessive informality level does not benefit the African growth process. Policymakers and governments are advised to operate within the bounds of the threshold of informality that reduces poverty and improve the African economic growth process. Originality/value: The paper is the first study to provide empirical findings on the nonlinear and threshold argument in the informality–poverty nexus, as far as the authors know. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a reading of the "Free Primary Education" (FPE) policy in Kenya through the lenses of critical theory/pedagogy. The study critiques the National Alliance Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government for adoption of the Freirian banking model to design and implement the policy. The paper argues that such a model has ended up marginalizing the voices of other FPE stakeholders and sustaining educational inequalities in the country. The paper also examines how neoliberal policies like Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPS) have influenced and shaped the FPE policy, and other educational reforms in the country. Such policies are read as colonial projects functioning to produce particular meanings and serving the interests of the dominant stakeholders--top government leaders and transnational capital markets. The paper concludes by theorizing an anticolonial pedagogy that aims at transforming FPE to an educational program that works to serve the interests of the local populace. The anticolonial pedagogy theorized also proposes strategies that different government and education stakeholders can employ in order to resist and counter the colonial, neo-colonial and neo-liberal structures and ideologies that continue to be perpetuated in the country.

Since the seminal work of Sen, poverty has been recognized as a multidimensional phenomenon. The recent availability of relevant databases renewed the interest in this approach. This paper estimates multidimensional poverty among women in fourteen Sub-Saharan African countries using the Alkire and Foster multidimensional poverty measures, whose identification method is based on a counting approach. Four dimensions are considered: assets, health, schooling and empowerment. The results show important differences in poverty among the countries of the sample. The multidimensional poverty estimates are compared with some alternative measures such as the Human Development Index, income poverty, asset poverty and the Gender-related Development Index. It is found that including additional dimensions into the analysis leads to country rankings different from those obtained with the mentioned four measures. Decompositions by geographical area and dimension indicate that rural areas are significantly poorer than urban ones and that a lack of schooling is, in general, the highest contributor to poverty. The paper also conducts robustness and sensitivity analyses of the multidimensional estimates with respect to the number of dimensions in which deprivation is required in order to be considered poor, as well as to the poverty lines within each dimension. Several cases of dominance between countries are found in the first robustness test.

Objective: The aim of this article is to revisit the subject of the implementation of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Africa. Specifically, the article is an update to a previous article titled "Implementing the 1989 United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child in sub-Saharan Africa: The Overlooked Socioeconomic and Political Dilemmas", which was published in the Journal of Child Neglect and Abuse Volume 26 2002. It assesses the extent to which the conditions identified in 2002 as militating against the protection of children's rights have been overcome since then. Method: The paper is a review essay and utilizes existing literature from varied sources to advance its main arguments. It draws from such documents to assess the extent to which socioeconomic and political barriers to the protection of children's rights in Africa have been overcome since 2002. Results: The ratification of the United Nation's 1989 Convention, the adoption of supportive continental and regional protocols and the passing of supportive legislation and policies by governments have not resulted in major improvements in the wellbeing of children. The socioeconomic and political conditions that were identified in 2002 still persist in many countries and continue to impede the protection of children's rights across most of the Africa. In particular, poverty, and rampant corruption, HIV/AIDS, armed conflicts and wars, and failure to enforce existing legislations continue to stand in the way of the realization of children's rights. Conclusion: The effective implementation of the 1989 UN Convention by African governments requires more than the ratification of the Convention and its supporting international and continental conventions, the adoption of regional protocols, and the passing of country specific legislations and policies. The continent in general and governments in particular must isolate and mainstream into their efforts the persistent diverse and unique socio-economic and political conditions that undermine the protection of the rights of the child. Existing legislations should be enforced, poverty eradicated, corruption minimized, HIV/AIDS controlled, armed conflicts and wars minimized, and the public must be educated about children's rights, including existing protective legislations and policies. (Contains 1 table.)

This paper is based on research into the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in South Africa. The research investigated whether, through being active members of this social movement, HIV-positive activists learn things they could not otherwise learn about their status and the epidemic, and how they put such knowledge to use. We show how activists develop a critical understanding of the underlying causes of their ill health and its link to economic poverty and global politics. The paper concludes by suggesting that adult educators can assume direct responsibility for poverty reduction by working in and with social movements.

Purpose: Seeks to argue that the peculiarities of sub-Saharan Africa, in terms of its socio-cultural diversity, low economic development, linguistic factors, HIV/AIDS pandemic, gender discrimination, low ICT awareness and so on, demand a new model of addressing the digital divide. Design/methodology/approach: Paper largely based on literature survey and an assessment of the existing models of addressing global digital divide. Findings: Sub-Saharan Africa has certain peculiarities in high levels of poverty, high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, repressive regimes, civil wars, diversity of cultural and linguistic factors, gender discrimination, etc. that require new models for bridging the digital divide and that recognise the uniqueness of the sub-continent. Research limitations/implications: More research is needed to determine new models of bridging the digital divide that can help sub-Saharan Africa to leapfrog into the information age. Practical implications: More attention is needed to alleviate poverty and meet people's basic needs for livelihood if attempts to integrate ICT into their lives are to be effective. Originality/value: Sub-Saharan Africa has largely relied on models of the developed countries to bridge the digital divide without paying close attention to how various technologies can effectively be integrated in the lives of the people to alleviate poverty and consequently stimulate ICT uptake. This paper provides some solutions.

The struggle against violent extremism is the most significant national-security challenge of the 21st century. It is the challenge that makes all the threats Americans face that much more dangerous. The ungoverned spaces, urban slums, and impoverished regions of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, along with the poorly integrated immigrant communities in Western Europe, are the epicenters of vulnerability around the world that al Qaeda and other terrorist groups actively exploit. There has been a great deal of debate about how Americans address these vulnerable populations and effectively challenge the threat posed by violent extremists; it is an argument fueled by the larger question of how to "win hearts and minds." While winning hearts and minds would be a tremendous feat if achieved, it remains an idealistic goal and one that must not distract from the immediate and realistic objective of diverting impressionable segments of the population away from the extremists' recruitment process. To accomplish such a diversion, the author stresses the need to look for ways to drain the swamp of potential recruits by overwhelming the target populations with alternatives, opportunities, and choices that are driven and disseminated by local vehicles and credible voices. These alternatives need not necessarily be pro-U.S.--so long as they unshackle populations from a situation in which a turn to extremism is the sole viable option. As young people around the globe are becoming more tech-savvy, the U.S. could provide much of its own alternative education in the digital space. In this sense, the author contends that the road ahead should be looked at more as a challenge of alternatives. The challenge of alternatives is not about promoting democracy; it is about diverting at-risk populations from the grip of extremist actors so that such populations have space to experience the freedom to choose. The author stresses the role of America in both the process of network-building and in engaging youths around the world, as well as in challenging extremists abroad. (Contains 9 endnotes.)

Context and background Multidimensional Poverty (MP) considers poverty in multiple dimensions of deprivations such as health, education, energy, the standard of living and access to basic services. MP remains a major challenge in Africa, with a large proportion of the population living in MP. According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Africa has shown the highest Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) having over 40% of its population living in MP. Goal and Objectives: This paper is a review, aimed at assessing the potential of the integration of satellite and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mapping MP, with a specific focus on Africa. Methodology: Based on the reviews of past studies, the combination of satellite data such as nighttime light, daytime satellite imagery and high-resolution settlement data in combination with techniques such as field surveys, statistical correlation models (transfer learning) and AI (deep learning) has been applied in mapping MP. Results: The findings from studies show that the combination of satellite data and AI has the capability of providing more accurate and granular MP maps, compared to the traditional approach. Again, this paper explains the concept of MP with a specific focus on Africa and presents a map depicting the current MPI in African countries. Finally, pitfalls especially in the accuracy, granularity and frequency of MP data were identified. Consequently, the satellite and AI approaches are recommended for more accurate, frequent, cost-effective and granular data, required in mapping poverty and design of interventions that effectively address the needs of the vulnerable populations in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) can be understood as a technology of 'social control', which seeks to shape domestic political space. Despite widespread recognition that the World Bank and the IMF continue to impose orthodox policy conditions on debt relief and loans to African countries, many suggest the requirement in PRSPs for civil society 'participation' introduces a progressive element that could, in time, subvert the logic of coercion. In contrast, this paper suggests that it is precisely through participation that international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and bilateral donors are working with the IFIs** to secure ever more intimate supervision of African political communities. Thus, if the answer to Hanlon's (1991) rhetorical question 'who calls the shots?' under structural adjustment was 'the IFIs', the answer under PRSPs is 'an uneasy coalition of NGOs, donors and the IFIs'. These groups share an agenda of securing consent to liberal systems of political and economic management. Through the PRSP and related processes they divide the labour required to manufacture consent, seeking to build 'reform coalitions' by transforming the objectives and nature of states, bureaucracies, social and political movements and, at their most ambitious, populations. In the process they imperil African sovereignty, self-determination and hopes for substantive democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protecting the vulnerable constituencies against risks, hazards and poverty is a common practice across countries of the world, whether developed or developing. While social protection programming in Nigeria predates political independence, the social protection efforts of the Buhari administration remain the most comprehensive in the history of Africa's largest economy. The expansive scope/coverage of the administration's social protection programming is better appreciated when viewed within the context of rising social inequality and poverty in the country as amply evidenced by a recent report of the National Bureau of Statistics. This paper examines the social protection practice of the Buhari administration which was instituted in 2016. Using secondary data and official records, the paper finds that while the social protection programming of the regime is elaborate and ambitious, it has not substantially achieved its intended consequences. The paper identifies challenges impeding the social protection efforts and proposes some mitigating measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After decades of decline, African higher education is now arguably in a new era of revival. With the prevalence of knowledge economy discourse, national governments in Africa and their development partners have increasingly aligned higher education with poverty reduction plans and strategies. Research capacity has become a critical development issue; and widening participation to doctoral education is seen as an instrument for enhancing this capacity. Against this backdrop, this paper presents a review of emerging initiatives and policies that have some bearing on the PhD in select sub-Saharan African nations, namely Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa. The findings show a shared optimism about the economic value of higher education, and explicate divergences and convergences in the framing of problems and policy responses related to doctoral education across the three nations. In the conclusion we reflect on challenges and policy omissions in the pursuit of the African PhD.

The focus of the United Nations 'Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)' initiative since 2015 has been "Eradicating extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030," if not wholly, then at least reduce it to an ambitious 3% of the world's population. These concerns have been a reality in Africa, home to 34 of the world's 48 poorest countries, and about two-thirds of the world's developing countries are in Africa. Furthermore, of the 32 countries in the world with the lowest levels of human development, 24 are in Africa. Even in other continents, where poverty levels have declined dramatically over the past four decades, Africa's population of poor people has increased. Therefore, if poverty is to be reduced to 3% globally, Africa would be at the forefront of this movement. This paper seeks to contribute to this ongoing discourse through the description of the nature of African poverty, the comparison of African perceptions of poverty in the past as they relate to the present, the consideration of factors militating against African growth, and the presentation of a Biblical framework for developing a new Africa. Through the historical-critical method, the paper revealed that African history demands that a new generation of African leaders detach themselves from the failed cultures and policies of the past and engage in the global struggle to eradicate poverty. Only when Africa becomes a model for prosperity and dignity can it be acknowledged that a new Africa has emerged to take her place at the forefront of global progress and development. Finally, the paper recommends that Africa accept, recognise and identify her challenges and seek solutions from within; leadership development has to be prioritised; trustworthy, visionary, and God-fearing leaders be given opportunities; the need for electoral processes to be open and accommodating for everyone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although development goals are usually set as targets that must be achieved in a development process, experience with development goals in Africa has tended to underscore underperformance either in terms of a shortfall in the targets attained or in terms of inadequate pursuit of specific goals. To illustrate this syndrome, the African Union's New Partnership for African Development and the Millennium Development Goals will be used as a case study. Neither of them includes language as a significant factor in the realization of the expected goals. In fact, most of the inadequacies observed are often attributed to socioeconomic causes. In this paper, I argue that these inadequacies cannot be fully accounted for without reference to the role of language coupled with attendant sociocultural constraints. By their very nature, virtually all the goals require participation by the populace, and the most effective means of ensuring their inclusion is the use of a language or languages which will facilitate and maximise such participation.

Sexuality education forms part of the national school curricula of most sub-Saharan African countries, yet risk-related sexual behaviour among young people continues to fuel the HIV pandemic in this part of the world. One of the arguments put forward to explain why sexuality education seems to have had little impact on sexual risk-taking is that existing curricula have neglected to take into account the complexity of the social, cultural and gender norms that influence the behaviour of school-going young people in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past few years, the Department of Basic Education in South Africa has recognised the need to provide guidance to teachers on the content, pedagogical processes and messages that are relevant to their specific context. This paper critically reflects on findings from a literature-based study conducted to identify the cognitive and social factors influencing the behaviour of school-going young people in South Africa and the risk and protective factors that might be particular to their circumstances. The findings provide helpful guidelines about the development, content and implementation of sexuality education curricula more likely to be relevant in contexts of serious poverty and disadvantage. Although based on the South African literature, the findings may also offer useful lessons for curriculum designers in other developing countries.