How kindergartens can help meet the MDGs

From IRIN, an article that explains how kindergartens in Guinea-Bissau can help that country meet the Millennium Development Goals.

In the village of Gantauda, 90km from Guinea-Bissau’s capital, Bissau, a child’s third birthday is a milestone: it is the age when they can start at the local kindergarten, which their parents know improves their chances of survival.

Enrolling in Gantauda kindergarten, Guinea-Bissau’s only pre-school centre, not only increases the chances of the children going on to primary school, but critically also provides a level of basic nutrition and health care most children are denied in a country where under-five mortality has risen from 203 to 223 per 1,000 live births, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The Gantauda programme provides lunch for the children, has clean latrines on-site, and will soon have a healthcare centre. It also hones children’s motor skills, encourages joint learning and establishes reading and writing techniques - the kind of integrated approach that can help improve children’s health outcomes, said Sophie Nadeau, human development specialist at the World Bank.

Numerous World Bank studies - including in Colombia, Bangladesh, Mozambique and Argentina - show introducing children to pre-school will up their likelihood of not only attending, but performing well in, and completing, primary school.

Only 28 percent of 7-12 year olds currently attend primary school in Guinea-Bissau, according to UNICEF, while just 12 percent of girls complete it, compared to 18 percent of boys. As such, Guinea-Bissau is still way off-track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of primary education for all by 2015, estimates the World Bank, which has re-set the goal for 2020.

Though it is too early to study the links between this programme and primary school completion rates, or health indicators, teachers have tracked children’s performance. "Children who attend the kindergarten appear to learn faster once they go to primary school,” said Bacar Lano, who teaches the three- and four-year olds at the centre. “We work on all kinds of techniques here to help them do that, including the basics of handwriting and the alphabet. We also spend a lot of time encouraging the kids to play, which helps to develop creativity.”

According to Ingrid Kuhfeldt, director of Plan International which funds the Gantauda programme, the biggest initial problems children starting primary school face in this region are behavioural problems in the classroom, and language barriers - the official language of instruction is Portuguese, but most children speak local languages.

The World Bank’s Nadeau told IRIN studies in Ecuador, Cambodia and Mozambique showed that while socio-economic differences do not greatly affect children’s performance at age one, two or three, by age five, those living in poverty “lag behind considerably”. Pre-school education can change that, she said. If not, “if they are already disadvantaged then this, coupled with low quality conditions means it is not surprising they don’t learn much at school.”

Community-run?

Donors are currently testing the cost-effectiveness and impact of three early childhood development (ECD) models in different settings: government-run or “formal” early childhood development programmes; community-based schemes; and “parenting programmes”, whereby parents regularly meet to discuss ways to nurture their children’s development.

Plan International has adopted the community-based model: Villagers choose the teachers, pay into a joint fund to support families who cannot afford to send their children, and contribute 30 percent of the running costs. All the playground equipment was made by local carpenters from local materials so that it will be sustainable, says Kuhfeldt.

The Ministry of Education has a very low capacity in Guinea-Bissau. Its budget barely covers teacher salaries, and would be very hard-pushed to take on quality ECD programmes on a large scale, she told IRIN.

Currently, every child in the village aged 3-6 attends the kindergarten, teacher Lano told IRIN. “Nobody is left out.”

Donors catching on

The 30 donors and agencies involved in the Fast Track Initiative to help achieve universal basic education, are increasingly funding early childhood as well as primary education, said Nadeau.

UNICEF helps develop training materials and curricula for ECD teachers; and tries to push the agenda forward with education ministries.

MDG meetings in September will provide an opportunity for ECD experts to push their agenda further, Nadeau told IRIN. In an ideal world, some sort of ECD intervention would be part of all universal basic education projects, she said.

But to get there, they must collect more data to convince decision-makers, said Nadeau. “The magnitude of the problem [children arriving at school unprepared] is not documented enough.” And once armed with data, advocates must reach beyond educators, to try to convince ministries of finance to start supporting some of these projects in the future, she said.

Preventing a cholera outbreak in Guinea-Bissau

From IRIN, a look at the steps taken to prevent a cholera outbreak in Guinea-Bissau.

Staff from NGOs and the health authorities are going house-to-house to distribute thousands of bottles of bleach to residents in the Bafata area of central Guinea-Bissau, to prevent another cholera outbreak. An epidemic in 2008 claimed at least 225 lives and infected more than 13,000 people.

"We're doing everything possible to prevent a cholera outbreak this year. The joint effort of communities and local authorities has prevented many cases of cholera in the past and efforts have once again been stepped up," said Ingrid Kuhfeldt, Country Director of Plan International, which works to alleviate child poverty.

Cholera is a waterborne disease that usually occurs during the rainy season and spreads quickly in rural areas like the Bafata region, where most people fetch their water from wells that are easily contaminated, and it is not always stored in hygienic conditions.

This year the first rains fell in early June, but so far no cholera cases have been recorded anywhere in Guinea-Bissau. Kuhfeldt told IRIN this was partly the result of careful planning by the government and aid agencies – a repetition of the strategy implemented in 2009, when Bafata had no confirmed cases.

Plan International's cholera prevention methods include distributing medical and cleaning supplies, like bleach and oral rehydration sachets, sinking wells and building toilets.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), backed by the European Commission's humanitarian aid department (ECHO), has been running a hand-washing campaign and distributing water purification kits in case there is an outbreak.

Kuhfeldt told IRIN that a cholera prevention project in which children and young adults were taught to diagnose hygiene problems and apply the solutions in their communities was so successful that it is being rolled out in Bafata and Gabu, 200km northeast of the capital, Bissau.

Children put up posters encouraging people to wash their hands more often, and run house-cleaning competitions every two weeks, with the national flag hoisted in front of the winner's home. Residents in the targeted communities said fewer people had been sick since the project began.

"Before we started the project in my community it used to be very dirty," said Malam Dola Cassama, 17, who was elected president of the project in Gantauda, a village 15km from Bafata town.

"There used to be lots of sickness during the rainy season; these days the community is much cleaner. If we see rotting food, we dig a hole and bury it, and we know not to drink from the same cup as someone who is vomiting or has diarrhoea," he told IRIN.

To be effective, anti-cholera actions must take place long before an epidemic breaks out, so that practicing new behaviour becomes established habit, said Jeroen Ensink of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

In the nearby village of Buntunsum, health worker Amadou Djao said he has seen a dramatic drop in the incidence of infectious disease. "Since the young people started encouraging everyone to place such emphasis on cleanliness, not only has cholera decreased, but also other illnesses spread by contaminated food and water."

As rainfall across the country becomes heavier, Guinea-Bissau's Ministry of Health is implementing a series of recommendations made by Plan International, other NGOs, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and ECHO. These include stockpiling bleach, and running campaigns to dispel myths, such as that the sun can kill the bacteria that cause cholera.

An epidemic in 2005 infected 25,000 people, followed by an epidemic in 2008, which prompted the Ministry of Health to swiftly order laboratory tests for suspected cases of cholera this month, but they proved negative.

"There's an alertness [to cholera] that has been maintained by the Ministry of Health," said Geoff Wiffin, UNICEF's Representative in Guinea-Bissau. "This analysis of suspected cases is an example of action leading to results."

Bringing abused "talibes" children back home

From IRIN, some children who leave home for Koran study are instead abused by religious leaders. This story tells of one NGO who brings the children away from harm and back to their families.

Each year a minority of Koranic students, or talibés, put under the care of a religious leader who then exploits and abuses them, are reunited with their families by child protection agencies. But after overcoming the challenge of tracing their parents, reintegrating ex-talibés into family life can be difficult as they have known little more than begging and beatings since their infancy, say child protection NGOs.

Since 2004 Bissau-Guinean NGO AMIC (L’Association des Amis de L’Enfant), based in Gabu, 200km northeast of the capital Bissau, has been helping transport children back to Guinea-Bissau, where it then traces their families with a view to reuniting them. The vast majority of the estimated 50,000 talibés are from Senegal or from Bafata and Gabu 80km and 200km east of Bissau respectively, according to a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.

“Finding their families is difficult because many of the children leave when they are very young and they can only give the first name of the person who has raised them, or the name of their grandparents’,” said Laudolino Medina, head of AMIC in Gabu. “We spend a lot of time trying to establish the facts.”

Families in these mainly Peule Muslim areas, send their children through middlemen to attend Koranic schools in Tambacounda in western Senegal, east to Ziguinchor, or to cities in the north, including Thiès, Dakar and St Louis, according to HRW; but often the religious leaders instead force the boys to raise money by begging, do not feed or clothe the boys, and regularly beat them.

Ex-talibé Boubacar told IRIN he thinks he is nine years old. He left home when he was about three, and was sent to live with a marabout (religious teacher) in a Koranic school in Parcelles, a Dakar suburb.

“I didn’t like being in Dakar. It was violent and I didn’t sleep at night; I didn’t eat enough. Here I am well. I eat. I have shoes. I can wash myself,” he told IRIN in a timid voice.

A 2007 report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Labour Organization and the World Bank, found most children begging in Dakar, including the talibés, were malnourished, often severely. According HRW many are regularly beaten, and poor health, worms and scabies are common.

Boubacar is now living with the head of AMIC instead of in AMIC’s transition home, as the 20 other boys who were brought over with him have all been returned to their families. AMIC’s transition centre can house up to 40 children at a time, and 20 additional boys are expected soon, said AMIC’s Medina.

But AMIC cannot trace Boubacar’s parents as he has had no contact with them for years and cannot remember their full names, or where they live. Having scoured Gabu region to no avail, AMIC are going to start searching in Senegal.

Joanita Teixeira, head of AMIC in Gabu, told IRIN: “He is intelligent, talks a lot, and was not violent with the other boys; he was always kind to the little ones.”

Promise to protect

If Boubacar’s parents are located, they will have to sign a declaration of parental authority authorizing the voluntary return of their children into their homes.

“Parents pledge to keep the child, to support him during his reintegration process, and to send him to school,” Medina told IRIN.

Since November 2005 the organization has reunited 253 boys. Supported by the Swiss government, the International Organization for Migration, and the Geneva Institute for Human Rights, AMIC pledges to pay for each child’s secondary school education until completion.

In the past, some boys found the transition too difficult and there were many runaways: 30 in 2006, according to AMIC, which says it will care for Boubacar until his family is found.

Culture clash

“These children have lived without their families for a long time. When they return, there can be a culture clash,” said Medina. “These boys have acquired a lot of vices - they steal, they fight, they are aggressive. They have developed many self-defence mechanisms because they have been living in the street.”

Marcel Ouattara, joint representative of UNICEF in Guinea-Bissau, told IRIN: “The return can be a shock for the child. In Dakar there are more and more child beggars in the streets - so they have many friends; they are used to seeing electricity; they can buy sweets or cold water with their begging money.”

Ex-talibé Mamadou spent two years in Dakar before returning to his village just outside Gabu town two years ago. He has consistently refused to attend school or find a job since, his father told IRIN.

Wearing oversized fluorescent green plastic sandals and a blue shirt with a picture of footballer Drogba on it, Mamadou smiled only when IRIN spoke to him about football.

Many of the families who send their children away live in poverty and thus it is to poverty that the children return to, says child protection specialist at UNICEF Sonia Polonio. Their villages may be miles from the nearest school or health centre, “and as for social and psychological support, it’s left to NGOs to look after them,” she said.

Many ex-talibés return with tapeworm or scabies, said Medina. “We have even discovered some children have died several months after their return,” he said, adding that poverty or ideological reasons may mean parents do not want their children back.

“In rare cases we have to mediate with a family so they accept their child back. A father may tell us his son must learn the Koran; that he chose that child for this purpose, and this is the child’s destiny. He may want to send his child back to Senegal.”

AMIC now closely follows each child’s progress over two years, which has caused the number of runaways to plummet. In difficult cases, it will mediate with the family, often searching for a compromise solution, such as agreeing to support the child’s Koranic education in Guinea-Bissau.

There are few studies outlining what happens to talibés over the long-term, though some child protection experts say they become hawkers, selling telephone cards or second-hand products, on city streets.

Boubacar is currently out of school, as he missed the start of the school year. But AMIC says he will be enrolled next year - as long as they find him a home.

Guineans mark '50 years of poverty'

from the BBC

By Will Ross

As Guineans mark their 50th year of independence from France, a popular cry to be heard in the capital, Conakry, is: "Fifty years of poverty!"

"We would rather have poverty in freedom than riches in slavery," the country's independence leader, Sekou Toure, told the then French President General Charles de Gaulle in 1958.

With those words ringing in his ears, Gen de Gaulle reportedly left in a rage, forgetting his cap on the table.

Days later Guineans voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to go it alone.

It was a bold step and one for which Guinea was punished.

The French withdrew their expertise and assistance, ensuring that Guinea's road ahead was steep.

Nowhere illustrates Guinea's recent demise better than the train station in Conakry.

Completed in 1914, the construction of the 700km (435 miles) track to Kankan was a French project partly to aid with the export of fruit.

But the trains ground to a final halt in May 1995.

They may have stopped 13 years ago but several of the workers still sit around the station, which now hosts a variety of businesses from tailoring to welding.

"When we left school the railway was in good condition and it was a great way to get around the country," recalls Fode Bangoura, who still runs the defunct depot.

"My father worked on the railway and it was a good job and that's why I also joined, but as it fell into disrepair it became more and more difficult to keep it going."

Pride

Despite this setback, Mr Bangoura is still proud of the country's history.

"We are very proud of the 50th anniversary. I was seven years old at independence. Our parents danced all night and so we joined in."

However, 89-year-old Mohamed Bashir Toure was not dancing or singing at the time.

"I was very happy with the French," he said with some frustration.

"Life was good then. We had all we needed and I voted to stay with the French.

"Now we lack electricity - everything is ruined."

Mr Toure would even welcome the return of the French - a comment that brings giggles and cries of "colonialist" from his relatives.

It seems he is not alone.

"I would welcome them back with open arms," says Fanta Kande who runs a food canteen in Conakry.

"I think independence was a huge mistake. If the French came back and worked with us and ran things in order to help us then why not?"

Guineans are by and large extremely proud of their independence history but people are sick and tired of bad governance and the problems that brings.

"We have no electricity or safe water," says medical student Oscar Loua Tokpagnan.

"We are in a difficult situation because when the students complete it's almost impossible for them to get a job."

Link to full article. May expire in future.

World Bank Board Endorses New Poverty Strategy for Guinea

from the World Bank

Emphasis on Reforms, Transparency seen as Broadly Encouraging
Contact:
In Washington: Herbert Boh (202) 473 3548 hboh@worldbank.org In Conakry: Tabara Sakho Barry (224) 41-50-61 or 41-27-70 tbarry@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, January 8, 2008 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today reviewed and endorsed the Government of Guinea’s second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, along with a Joint International Development Association –International Monetary Fund Advisory Note on the strategy.

In discussing Guinea’s new poverty strategy, the board particularly welcomed its emphasis on improving governance, fighting corruption and increased transparency, especially in the mining sector. It also recognized the urgent need to increase the population’s access to basic services, accelerate Guinea’s growth, diversify Guinea’s economy, and generate employment opportunities for the young and the poor.

Noting the tensions that emerged in Conakry this week over the coordinating role of Guinea’s Prime Minister and urging all parties to seek constructive solutions to the current crisis, Bank directors commended the government for steps taken over the past year to restore macroeconomic stability and undertake sweeping reforms. They underlined the importance implementing Guinea’s new program with the IMF and rapidly attain HIPC Completion Point to benefit from full debt relief, while underlining the need for a comprehensive debt management strategy aimed limiting the re-accumulation of debt.

“By putting the emphasis on urgent reforms to increase transparency and strengthen governance in response to the demands of Guinean civil society, this strategy aims at concrete results,” said Obiageli Ezekwesili, Vice President for the Africa Region. “Now that the government and the people of Guinea, with the backing of key donors, have a framework for attacking poverty and improving services, we look forward to working together to improve living standards. We hope for a peaceful and durable solution to the current tensions and encourage all parties to work together to allow the voice of ordinary Guineans to be heard.”

The board urged the government to push forward plans to strengthen public financial management, including central bank operations, and to follow through on proposals to strengthen management of the mining sector and improvement the climate for investment.

Directors also noted that Guinea is rich in natural resources and that sound management of resource revenues could serve to significantly improve basic services to the population.

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Guinea, please visit

www.worldbank.org/guinea

Donors pledge $400 mln to tackle poverty in Guinea

from Reuters

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Foreign donors have pledged more than $400 million to tackle poverty in Guinea, aimed at boosting electricity, sanitation, water and food supply in the West African country, the government said on Wednesday.

With the support of the World Bank and the European Union, Guinea organised a two-day donors conference in Paris, which ended on Wednesday, to raise funds for a four-year Poverty Reduction Strategy (SRP).

"Based on preliminary indications, financing pledges for the implementation of the SRP for 2007-2010 exceed $400 million," the government statement said.

"Certain partners have said they will consider providing further funding in the near future."

Guinea contains almost a third of the world's proven reserves of bauxite -- the raw material for aluminium -- but the majority of its people continue to live below the poverty line, amid economic mismanagement and high inflation.

A survey by Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International ranked the former French colony as the most corrupt country in Africa last year.

Reclusive President Lansana Conte, who has ruled Guinea for 23 years, was forced to appoint a consensus prime minister after crippling general strikes by opposition unions earlier this year in which 137 people were killed.