Child Survival and Child Development in Africa. Studies and Evaluation Papers 6.

Children in Africa starve to death or fail to thrive and achieve their full potential as a result of social problems that have their roots in both national and international issues. In many African countries, parents are unable to feed their children because farmers no longer grow enough food and prefer to cultivate cash crops that are exported to foreign countries to service debts to rich industrial nations. This paper recommends a multilevel and integrated approach to defining and solving the problem of child survival and child development in Africa. The following issues are explored: (1) the development of an agenda for dealing with the fundamental issue of Africa's underdevelopment that is in the best interest of Africans and their children; (2) the promotion of child welfare through the empowerment of families and communities; (3) the use of the African concepts of childhood and socialization, and the strong emotions and expectations that Africans have for their children, as the bases for any campaigns or programs for promoting child welfare and development; (4) the empowerment of Africans by means of technical information; and (5) the creation of public awareness in Africa, as a result of which the general public, communities that are at risk, and various other national and international groups will become informed about the issues and problems of child survival and child development in Africa. (SM)