EGM/DVGC/2006/OP.3
_____________________________________________________________________
United Nations
Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
in collaboration with UNICEF
Expert Group Meeting
Elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence
against the girl child
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre
Florence, Italy, 25-28 September 2006
Reducing Vulnerability of the Girl Child
in Poor Rural Areas
Activities of the International Fund for Agricultural
Development
Prepared by
Maria Hartl
Technical Adviser, Gender and Social Equity
IFAD 2
Introduction
Across many areas of the developing world, children live in a situation of
vulnerability and are exposed to a combination of systematic discrimination based on
age and social status, education and health. The girl-child faces double disadvantages
because of gender discrimination at the household and community level. These
vulnerabilities are even stronger in rural areas, where poverty, traditions and lack of
infrastructure and services prevail.
By nature of its mandate, IFAD addresses extreme rural poverty which is the
main factor for raising children’s vulnerabilities and conditions detrimental to their
well-being. IFAD targets poor and vulnerable households, and has a special focus on
the economic empowerment of rural women. The Fund therefore contributes to
improving the well-being of children indirectly by increasing and sustaining the
incomes of poor rural households. It also gives attention to the situation of children by
making chronic child malnutrition one of the anchor indicators of its Results and
Impact Monitoring System. Many IFAD-supported projects include adult literacy,
specifically directed at women and provide skills and vocational training for young
people.
Vulnerabilities of adolescent boys and girls in the rural areas
In rural areas, boys and girls play key roles in family farming and through
their economic activities generate incomes that improve rural livelihoods for the poor.
Children's work in agriculture has positive impacts and needs to be seen in context of
different economic and livelihood realities of developing countries. However, the
threshold at which children’s work becomes hazardous and exploitative is often fluid.
Child labour, in particular its worst hazardous forms (including slavery, trafficking,
debt bondage and other forms of forced labour, forced recruitment of children for use
in armed conflict, prostitution and pornography, and illicit activities),
1
need to be seen
in the larger context of development since its reduction depends on improved
household incomes, economic empowerment and infrastructure development for
education and health.
Rural adolescents account for 55 per cent of the world youth population and
tend to be the most disadvantaged in terms of access to training, education and human
development facilities, especially when female. Additionally, women of 15 or 16
years of age are up to six times more likely to be infected with HIV/AIDS than young
men of the same age, and half of all new infections are occurring amongst youth.
2
Major population growth amongst others in Sub-Saharan Africa generated a surge in
the number of youth currently requiring basic services and causing added pressure on
sustainable agriculture, rural development and finite natural resources. In Africa, 71
per cent of young people live in rural areas. Growth rates tend to be highest in
countries where rural population exceeds 75 per cent, including Kenya, Tanzania and
1
ILO (2006), Global Report - The end of child labour: within reach. Geneva.
2
ILO (2004), African Union Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government on Employment and
Poverty Alleviation in Africa- Issues Paper complied by ILO et al, September 8-9, Ouagadougou 3
Zimbabwe.
3
When available, formal education and training curricula are heavily
geared towards academic accomplishments and formal sector employment in urban
centres, rather than rural livelihoods
4
, motivating many adolescent boys and girls to
leave school early and meet their household’s need for income by migrating to cities.
Not only boys migrate since evidence from Kenya and South Africa suggests that
young girls are often forced to leave in search of livelihood, too, while facing
considerable threat to personal safety.
5
In Sub-Saharan Africa, unemployment rates of
urban youth are often triple those for adults with the situation being even more
challenging for girls, whose lack of secured income may force them into further
insecurity, including prostitution.
IFAD’s focus and mandate
IFAD’s interventions in poor rural areas are not geared in a direct way towards
children. IFAD does not implement activities for children per se, but children are
considered in the context of families and households. Since the Fund concentrates
amongst others on enhancing the capacity to earn an income, the target group usually
includes adults and at most, youth. Through IFAD supported programmes, many
children are positively affected, albeit indirectly, since the improvement of rural
livelihoods and community development has an impact on the well-being of children.
These projects target the poor and the poorest in the rural areas, which
comprise communities living in remote rural areas with limited access, ethnic
minorities and nomadic people. Projects intervene in areas affected by draught and
desertification, environmentally fragile zones and in post-conflict situations. The
acute poverty in most of its targeted areas represents specific challenges with regard
to the status of children and their rights. The livelihoods of poor farmers or
pastoralists, for instance, depend on child labour, at least seasonally and schooling is
often not available or accessible for all children.
Since child labour is an indicator of poverty, it is included in IFAD’s
analytical work. Malnutrition as an indicator of poverty is captured through
measuring child malnutrition. In its newly developed Results and Impact
Management System (RIMS), IFAD uses percentage reduction in the prevalence of
child malnutrition as an anchor indicator for measuring impact of the projects and
programmes it finances. Studies show that there is an important correlation between
income levels and child malnutrition, i.e. households with income below the poverty
line usually have acute problems of malnutrition. Nutrition is also a function of food,
health and caring practices. Project activities that significantly improve food security
reduce the burden of disease or empower women, achieve reduced levels of chronic
malnutrition. RIMS uses the nutrition status of children as an anchor indicator of
poverty since they are the most vulnerable members of a community, and chronic
malnutrition among under-fives is recognized as a powerful measure of sustained
deprivation.
3
FAO (2006) Current Situation and Needs of Rural Youth (www.fao.org/docrep/x5636e/x5636e01.htm)
4
GTZ (2005) Children and Youth: partners for development (Eschborn, GTZ)
5
FAO (2006), Current Situation and Needs of Rural Youth (www.fao.org/docrep/x5636e/x5636e01.htm4
Economic Empowerment
The biggest impact on reducing vulnerabilities and child labour comes from
economic empowerment, in particular an increase in the income of women.
Frequently, improvements in income as a result of IFAD interventions have an
indirect effect on whether children, in particular girls, may attend school instead of
being required for farm and household labour and contributing to the economic
survival of the family. The projects that IFAD supports strengthen the food security
and quality of life of targeted groups by introducing more efficient agricultural and
irrigation practices, diversifying rural income opportunities and institutional capacity
building of local service providers. The added income that families reap is often
invested in the schooling of their children. Since education of girls is considered less
a priority than education of boys, additional income has a direct impact on girl’s
schooling, provided that schools exist and are accessible.
For example, increases in agricultural productivity or diversification of income
through off-farm activities often translate into greater availability of funds to send
more children to school. School fees, educational equipment and the labour lost are
burdens that many economically and otherwise deprived families cannot shoulder. In
many societies, the women in a household pay for costs related to the education of
children. Once women have gained additional income, their first goal is to pay for
school uniforms, books and fees. Women may utilize the added income obtained
from Community Development Fund activities, such as vegetable gardening, labour
sharing or trading, to provide more of their children the opportunity of formal
education.
The Rural Finance and Community Initiatives Project in the Gambia established a
Farmer Partnership Fund offering greater access to credit and loans, which boosted
local investments in income generating activities
6
. Women kafo members took out
loans to build new vegetable gardens. The vast majority reported using the new
income reaped out of the sale of produce to pay for school fees and teaching
materials. Similarly, in Senegal, the Rural Enterprise Promotion project, which
strengthened the adding of value to agricultural produce allowed parents to invest
their added income in to the education of their children.
7
Literacy, numeracy and health awareness programmes for adults can translate
into more educated and capable parents, with positive implications for other family
members. A high proportion of IFAD-supported projects include adult literacy,
specifically directed at women. Programmes targeting women again bring the highest
returns since studies have shown that the education of the mother has a direct impact
and trickle down effect on the schooling of children, in particular of girls.
6
IFAD (2005), Rural Finance and Community Initiatives Project, Interim Evaluation (IFAD, Rome)
7
IFAD (2004), Projet de Promotion des Micro-entreprises Rurales Phase I (IFAD, Rome)5
Support to education and training
Many IFAD-supported projects contain an education component in the form of
infrastructure support to build or maintain rural schools, teacher training to up-date
teaching methods and curricula, school feeding to improve nutrition or scholarships to
enable children from remote areas to attend boarding schools. The quality of local
schooling opportunities and monitoring of children’s progress may be enhanced,
together with investments in educational infrastructure and curricula. The Belgium
Survival Fund (BSF) is financing this component in many projects, but also WFP and
other donors. One area that IFAD recurrently seeks to strengthen is the access of rural
communities to basic formal education. Such interventions indirectly increase
schooling and thus reduce the incentive to involve children in labour.
In India, the Andhra Pradesh Tribal Development programme boosted food security
and raised the income of tribal families through podu agriculture which translated
amongst others into funds for construction work, teachers’ salaries and educational
equipment at community schools. The direct involvement of parents in the managing
of schools has improved attendance rates in all districts by an average of 20% and
improved the gender balance of students, with 40% of new enrolments being young
girls. School dropout rates have fallen. Even in cases where resources were extremely
scarce, community schools would continue to operate on a voluntary basis,
highlighting the strong commitment in the area towards the education of children.
8
Labour saving technologies
Children often have to contribute to family labour in the absence of labour
saving technologies. Since children often assist their mothers and other adult women
in doing their chores such as fetching water or collecting fire wood, a reduction in
women’s workload benefits the children, in particular the daughters. Labour-saving
technologies depend on the socio-cultural context and environment and need to be
introduced through community involvement in order to be accepted, used and
maintained. Such technologies can include energy-saving stoves to reduce the daily
task of firewood collection; promotion of donkeys especially for women and HIVAIDS orphans to ease the burden of transporting drinking water and other goods;
introduction of water harvesting techniques and agricultural practices that are less
labour intensive such as lighter and better quality hand tools; the management of soil
cover in order to suppress weeds, or introducing crops that are less labour intensive.
In Morocco, an IFAD supported project in the Tafilalet and Dades RDP has acted as
a catalyst for women’s integration into development activities through providing
community investments in potable water networks and electricity, which have reduced
women’s workload, particularly water fetching and manual labour. Moreover, the
project has raised women’s awareness of the role they play, on an equal basis with
men, in household and community development.
9
8
IFAD (2001), Andhra Pradesh Tribal Development Project, Evaluation Report (IFAD, Rome)
9
Experience Sharing from the Tafilalet and Dades Rural Development Project in Morocco: Strengthening
Women's Role in Agricultural Production (http://www.ifad.org/nena/studies/morocco/ma_356.htm). April 2002. 6
Vocational and skills training
Many children in rural areas, in particular girls, do not attend primary school,
drop out early and have limited access to secondary education. Vocational and skills
training is all the more important for young people to provide a basis for improved
income once they reach adulthood. In addition, skills training can prevent the further
marginalization of vulnerable adolescent girls and boys who are at risk of becoming
victim of the worst forms of child labour, including slavery, trafficking and forced
recruitment into armed forces. HIV/AIDS orphans are one identified group of
vulnerable children and youth in the rural areas and require specific attention.
A joint IFAD/ BSF project in Uganda, implemented mainly by the Uganda Women’s
Effort to Save Orphans (UWESO) responded to the national HIV/AIDS crisis and the
needs of the high number of ensuing orphans. Amongst others, cluster-based training
sessions for caregivers of orphans were organized, on topics such as business skills,
improved agricultural practices, HIV/AIDS and health, children’s rights and
protection and nutrition. UWESO support consisted of 6-12 months of on-the-job
training with an experienced artisan, supervision by branch staff and access to credit
to start an own business.
10
Conclusions and recommendations
To reduce vulnerabilities of children, in particular of the girl-child and
increase protection, the following actions are recommended:
1. Development agencies should integrate concerns about children’s rights,
protection of the girl child from gender specific discrimination, child labour and other
forms of gender specific exploitation of children into the design and implementation
of projects and programmes;
2. The incidence of child labour, including in its worst forms, and low school
attendance by boys and girls is an indicators of poverty and factor of risk and should
be included in all poverty analysis and vulnerability assessments;
3. Households that are at risk of involving children in hazardous work (including
slavery, bonded labour, trafficking) should be singled out as a special target, in line
with what has been done for households and children affected by HIV/AIDS or fosterfamilies of HIV/AIDS orphans;
4. Greater attention should be given to the improvement of living conditions in
particular health and education of girls and boys; school enrolment and attendance of
boys and girls should be included in monitoring systems for programme performance
and impact assessment of development interventions;
5. Given the importance of skills training and creation of employment on and off
farm for adolescents and young people, more collaboration is needed for establishing
successful gender-specific training programmes;
6. Efforts should be undertaken to develop and disseminate pro-poor laboursaving technologies that can ease children’s labour burden (for example in fetching
water), with particular focus on the girl-child.
10
UWESO (2005) Uganda Women’s Effort to Save Orphans 2000- 2005, Programme Completion Evaluation
Report (Rome, IFAD/ BSF), iv & 22
In a survey conducted by the MV Foundation of the families of girl children engaged as farm labourers in cotton seed farms, it was found that while girls worked 29.4 days in a month on wage work, the women worked 22.2 days and the men 18.6 days. Further the contribution of the girl to the family income was 28.7%, of the women 28.3% and of the men 42.8% during that month. It has also been found that the girls are being engaged in new forms of exploitative relationship vis-à-vis the employers. Thus for instance in a conventional situation girls in the area always worked on a daily wage basis as agricultural labourers. They seldom worked as bonded labourers against an advance taken by the family. It was usually the boys who were pledged against a loan taken as bonded labourers. However it is now quite common to see girls working to clear off the advance taken by the parents. This practice is growing, especially in areas of intensive commercial crops such as cotton, oilseeds, seed farms and so on. There is a growing demand for girl children. Indeed, the decision to take up a venture on farming is made only if there is an assured supply of girls in place. The entrepreneurs even go to the schools to cajole them to join as workers. The employers have also designed various methods of interaction with the girls and their families which ensure that there is a guaranteed supply of labour. To tie the girls to the employers they are given incentives and gifts for good production and performance. They are shown videos of popular movies near the work place, taken to the cinema theatre once every month. They have also ensured that the girls worked on their farms by circulating a myth that the farms cotton seed grow well only if touched by girl children especially those who have not attained their puberty. There does not seem to be any break to the dependence of the family and the employers as well on these girls.It is in this situation that the MV Foundation has attempted to intervene. It was clear that an atmosphere had to be built to make it possible for the girls to abandon work and join into schools. Parents too had to be given confidence that they were taking the right decision in sending their daughters to schools. An assurance had to be given that their children would be given all the attention and care. More important the message that the one and only alternative to the drudgery and discrimination of girls is through education had to be made explicit. To elaborate, the education of girls through attendance in full time schools is crucial to liberate the girls from their daily chores. Education is an intrinsic value in itself needing no further justification. Yet in the case of girl children the spin off effects it has on their lives is immense. It enables them cope with the problem of gender discrimination. It extends the age of their marriage. They no longer would be child brides. They are better nourished and healthy as they no longer work. In fact they become better equipped to deal with adverse situations. Schooling also provides a break in the habits and culture which stultifies the growth of the girl child. It opens up options and possibilities new dreams and a newer future.
