Search

This paper examines a developing model for building an international social work placement that meets the needs of the host agency and community first. The paper addresses the challenges for social work departments to develop a strong learning environment while also keeping primary the needs of the host community and agency.

The government of Ghana has designed various initiatives to achieve the Millennium Development Goals on education and the Education for All goals. Despite these initiatives, student outcomes continue to be poorer than desired. Although access to education has improved, student dropout remains a problem and student scores on achievement tests remain low, along with their rates of progression to higher grades. The authors propose a program of mentoring, peer counseling, and parent involvement for children from first through ninth grade. They believe this program is essential to sustain the government's initiatives on education, and has the potential to achieve the educational outcomes that Ghana and many developing countries require to meet the goals of the EFA agenda.

Girls' enrolment in primary schools has achieved significant increase and parity with male enrolment in many countries in Africa since the 1960s. Some of these countries include Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania. However, in most Sub-Saharan African countries, female enrolment still lags behind male enrolment. This paper examines some of the reasons for the persistent gender gap between females and males in the three African countries of Ghana, Nigeria and Togo within the West Africa sub-region. It discusses gender relations, cultural practices such as early marriage, child slavery, and child fostering/trafficking, poverty and multiple household duties for girls as some of the contributing factors. It is argued that unless these cultural beliefs and attitudes are changed and mandatory measures such as holding parents accountable and responsible are put in place, gender parity and quality education for all, especially for females, will not be achieved in Africa. A number of additional strategies for improvement in school attendance and retention for females are also discussed.

This study reports findings from a qualitative investigation of seven Bosnian refugee women's coping strategies as they resettled in two cities of the Southeastern United States over five years. It focuses on their personal experiences as refugees and the factors that contributed to their resilience. Their personal narratives highlight the importance of family as well as extended family, spirituality expressed in the form of non-organized religion, and the availability of community social support services that helped them adjust to resettlement. The research discusses implications for practice and further studies to improve refugees' mental well-being. KEYWORDS. Bosnian refugee women, community social support services, family, resettlement, resilience factors, spirituality doi:10.1080/15313200802467908

This study examines knowledge of and attitudes about family planning and its use by a convenience sample of men in Ghana. It considers sociocultural factors such as spousal communication and [...]

The neglect and lack of development of professional mental-health services for refugee children and women in Africa is focused and it is argued that relief activities should include psychological and mental-health services to help them deal with their traumatic experiences. It is noted that professional social work intervention from Africa and elsewhere, on the mental health of refugees would benefit the suffering children and women in Africa.

This article will present some salient issues affecting the human rights of most vulnerable segments of the Ghanaian population, namely, children, women, the disabled, and the elderly. On different levels the provision of welfare services for these subgroups is inadequate. This article will outline these services and the unique set of problems and issues besetting each group. Economic constraints and lack of commitment to good governance, common in developing countries, are obstacles to the advancement, human rights, and social protection of these groups. This article will examine the implications for adopting social development models and concepts for improving the social and human rights conditions of these vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a study to explore problems and parental challenges being faced by resettled African refugee parents in the U.S. It mentions that major problem being faced by most African refugees includes poor English language proficiency, underemployment and parenting of children. It stress upon need of changes in refugee resettlement policy with emphasize upon education opportunities, job training and mandatory long-term English language skills.

This study reports findings from a qualitative investigation of seven Bosnian refugee women's coping strategies as they resettled in two cities of the Southeastern United States over five years. It focuses on their personal experiences as refugees and the factors that contributed to their resilience. Their personal narratives highlight the importance of family as well as extended family, spirituality expressed in the form of non- organized religion, and the availability of community social support services that helped them adjust to resettlement. The research discusses implications for practice and further studies to improve refugees' mental well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study on gender inequality and lack of sexual and reproductive rights of women in Ghana. It intends to find out their experiences in relation to decision-making about child bearing and their rights as women to use birth control devices. Factors include the size of the population, size of the various migrant populations, diversity of cultural, educational and ethnic patterns and heterogeneity of the people and groups. A phenomenological qualitative approach is used to explain the nature and nuances of life experiences and to suggest possible insights about the lived experience from the participants' view. It is concluded that women lack the power to negotiate safe and protected sex with their partners due to unequal gender relations.

Women in Ghana still face discrimination and inequality in the Ghanaian society. This situation is still occurring decades after the first women's international conference and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as the Ghanaian Constitutional provisions of women's rights and equality, This qualitative study examines the issues of gender equality, in terms of household work, sexual and reproductive rights and political decision-making and participation, from the perspectives of 68 women in Ghana. The study captured the voice of Ghanaian women with different educational, socio-economic and occupational backgrounds in both urban and rural communities through focus group discussions. The study indicates that Ghanaian women, in theory, have the constitutional right to enjoy equal rights and opportunities with their male counterparts, however, in practice they lag behind in almost all public spheres of life. They lagged behind in political participation and decision-making, and also in expressing and enjoying their sexual and reproductive rights. Gender inequality has been attributed to institutional and structural barriers, in addition to women's multiple roles, cultural and customary barriers and negative attitudes and perception about women in general. This study discusses the implications of the findings for an increased involvement of social work advocacy in terms of education, empowerment and policy formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]