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This paper examines the performance of key factors influencing the prospect of Africa’s poorest children avoiding being left behind in poverty by 2030 as required by the United Nation’s Agenda for Sustainable Development, a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) declared in 2015. At that time, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was facing both rising debt and deterioration of the fiscal space required to provide resources. Quantitative methods employing descriptive analysis on secondary data are used in this study to compare the trend of child poverty, as represented by under-5 mortality rates (U5MR), both over time and between country clusters. U5MR was chosen because it is an indicator of the well-being of a nation’s children. Countries were “clustered” into quartiles based on their average U5MR between 2000 and 2018. The results indicate marked disparities in U5MR across SSA. No strong association was found between economic growth and U5MR, but good governance, as demonstrated by progress towards achieving the SDGs, correlates with decreases in both U5MR and the incidence of childhood stunting. In the first U5MR quartile, the SDG index score is over 50% in all child poverty indicators under consideration, whereas in the fourth quartile it is below 50%. SSA as a whole performed well in child poverty indicators from 2000 to 2015; however, consideration of the period from 2015 to 2018 suggests that much remains to be done to lift every child out of poverty. Within and across countries, critical areas for immediate attention include: improving sanitation and access to clean water and lowering the prevalence of anaemia and stunting; increasing the rates of exclusive breastfeeding, birth registration, and pre-primary enrolment; and reducing youth unemployment and socioeconomic disparities. Cash transfers to low-income families may help address the added economic insecurity due to COVID‑19 that has left more children vulnerable to child marriage and child labour.

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This paper, which focuses on formerly displaced communities in post-conflict northern Uganda, discusses the variance between the way formal institutions view young women’s identities and how young women see themselves. Based on a qualitative study that used in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, findings indicate that the infantilizing and victimizing language adopted by these institutions does not reflect the identities of young women in the post-conflict setting. These women argue that terminology such as “child mother” and “child soldier” is disempowering, denying them the prestige of adulthood yet disassociating them from childhood. The intersecting nature of their perceived identities hinders their access to humanitarian assistance targeted specifically to children or adults, since they are not recognized as clearly belonging to either group. The use of the term “child mother” effectively penalizes young women for engaging in adult (sexual) behaviour, while denying them the adult status that mothers are normally accorded. This article argues that sustainable post-conflict reconstruction, with efficient access to and use of humanitarian assistance, demands insitutional adoption of contextually inclusive language that recognizes young women’s professed identities and is reflective of local experiences and realities.

EN:

This study investigated, through an attachment theoretical lens, the relationship between first-year university students’ personal and academic adjustment and 3 psychosocial resources: parental attachment, student resources (parental support, social support, ways of reducing loneliness, emotion regulation, coping strategies, locus of control), and gender. Participants answered questionnaires relating to their psychosocial resources and post-secondary adjustment in first and second term. These data were analysed using a planned regression analysis. In Term 1, paternal attachment predicted students’ emotional adjustment, with social and personal resources accounting for this relationship, and was related to academic adjustment via locus of control. Maternal attachment predicted academic adjustment. Gender and locus of control predicted academic performance (as measured by grade point average [GPA]). In Term 2, parental attachment predicted emotional adjustment, with social support accounting for this relationship, but academic adjustment was no longer related to paternal attachment. Overall, gender and locus of control predicted academic success. Suggestions are made for developing transitional theoretical models that address psychosocial processes that will help shape responsive institutional programming and planning in support of incoming college students. These recommendations include designing more personalized programs to match students and their family systems where possible and keeping parents/guardians informed of helpful supports for students’ experiences when needed.

EN:

Immigrant families and their children experience isolation after migration to Canada. Inadequate income, unemployment, and underemployment have all been identified as primary challenges to the mental health of immigrant families. This study qualitatively explored the perceptions of six Middle Eastern immigrant caregivers regarding their children’s post-migration mental health. The research was situated in the constructivist paradigm, and qualitative descriptive design was used to explore participant experiences. Interviews were conducted in English with three Farsi-speaking and three Arabic-speaking caregivers. Reflexive thematic analysis was performed. Three themes were developed: (a) parents feel their children are isolated and lonely; (b) caregivers’ limited access to resources impacts their children’s mental health; and (c) community connections enhance families’ mental health. Findings suggest children’s experiences with family separation and exposure to racism contributed to children’s loneliness. Children’s isolation was exacerbated by caregivers’ limited access to resources to support their children’s transition into Canada. Caregivers identified social support as an asset to their families’ mental health. This research highlights the importance of culturally responsive health, employment, and education policies, together with programs to provide resources for immigrant families to support their children’s mental health after migration.

EN:

Chronic illness in children causes more mental health risks for parents than for other family members. Therefore, exploring the experiences of parents who have a daughter with multiple sclerosis (MS) and presenting them to health care planners and managers can have a positive impact on community health. This phenomenological study involving 12 participants in Iran aimed to explore the experiences of parents of young women (aged 17 to 40) with MS. The data collected from semi-structured interviews were analyzed using Colaizzi’s method. Open coding resulted in 450 codes, and after several stages of analysis and integration of similar codes, five main themes containing 21 subthemes were produced. The main themes were mental distress, feeling trapped, adaptation issues, reaction to the disease, and coming to terms with the disease. This study showed that having a daughter with MS affects all dimensions of the parents’ life, and can lead to experiences that are new to them and may confuse them. These findings provide a path towards improving effective parental care for their daughters with MS, and ultimately reducing the burden of disease on the family, the health system, and the community.