African Report on Child Wellbeing (2020) |15 October 2021
Seychelles has been ranked high as a girl-friendly state in Africa
Seychelles ranks high as girl-friendly state
Seychelles ranks among top countries in Africa for governments’ friendliness towards girls, according to a recently published flagship report, the African Report on Child Wellbeing (2020).
The Girl-Friendliness Index is a rights-based statistical tool and conceptual framework anchored on three pillars of children’s rights, namely, protection, provision and participation.
Launched by the African Child Policy Forum, the report analyses the status of girls on the continent, how friendly governments are towards girls, and the extent to which they meet their legal obligations.
Countries who scored the highest are Mauritius in first rank with a 0.8109 score, Tunisia with a score of 0.7766, closely followed by South Africa with 0.7761, and Seychelles with a scoring of 0.7439, followed by Algeria, Cabo Verde and Namibia in seventh rank. Algeria secured a score of 0.7400, while Cabo Verde scored 0.7156 and Namibia scored 0.7105.
African states categorised as friendly include Egypt in eight rank, followed by Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Botswana and Ghana. The scores in this category range between 0.6604 down to 0.6016.
As per the study, there are approximately over 308 million girls below 18 years on the African continent, and governments should do more in terms of legal and policy frameworks to protect the lives and wellbeing of girls, towards fostering state accountability towards children in general.
One of the key findings is that “girls occupy a unique, vulnerable position in African society. Social norms, practices and attitudes are prejudicial to the life, survival and development of girls”, highlighting the need for change, towards “laws, policies and other measures to protect girls from the risks they face by virtue of their age and gender”.
While it acknowledges that many strides have been made towards girl-friendliness across the continent, the report also highlights the gaps and uneven progress, and proposes that African governments harmonise laws and policies in line with international and regional legal norms, frameworks and standards so as to provide grounds to enforce the rights of girls, and initiate programmes that build on the skills and capacities of girls to participate in governance of their communities. Such actions are expected to address social and cultural barriers that prevent girls from participating in matters concerning them.
Indian Ocean neighbour Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Togo and Rwanda all ranked high for providing solid frameworks, both legal and policy in protecting girls’ rights, and addressing rights violations.
As per the findings, the less girl-friendly states are the Comoros in 46th rank with a 0.3330 score, the Central African Republic in 47th position with a score of 0.2844, and Niger in 48th place, with a score 0.2772. At the extreme end of the ranking are the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Chad and South Sudan in 52nd rank. The DRC scored a total of 0.2721, Eritrea scored 0.2499, while Chad managed to score 0.1697 and South Sudan was given a 0.1590 scoring.
In building on the protection of girls’ rights and interests, governments must ensure access to provisions for girls, namely, sanitation, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, education, and others which are of paramount importance to their development. Report findings indicate that access to adequate healthcare is lacking in many African countries, particularly SRH services, in addition to education and nutritious food.
Although classified as ‘poor’, Eswatini, Tunisia, Lesotho and Mozambique led the race in terms of spending on girls’ education, based on each country’s budget allocation.
As the third area of focus is participation, countries were also scored on governments’ efforts to provide avenues for girls to participate in governance and voice matters that affect them, for instance in the formulation of laws and policies.
Compiled by Laura Pillay
Source: www.theconversation.com