3-174 - The Health and Well-being of Sub-Saharan African Children in Ecocultural Context: Integrating Research, Policy, and Practice

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Less than 10% of developmental science research has studied communities that account for 90% of the world’s population. There is thus a desperate need to better understand children’s developmental outcomes and the factors impacting these outcomes, including current local, national and international policies, in contexts outside of the global North. Thus, context-appropriate, sustainable policy and practice interventions to improve children’s development in the global South can be implemented (Ferguson et al., 2013). In this symposium, current sub-Saharan African government and local agency policies and their impacts on child well-being are discussed and evaluated. First, the impacts of violent conflict on the mental health of children living in the Kapedo region of Kenya, as well as current interventions to address child well-being, are addressed. Recommendations are made to the Kenyan government to provide better psychosocial support for children living in this conflict zone. Second, recommendations are made to the Malawi government for best practices to increase women’s utilization of antenatal care through an extension of the Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) developed by the WHO (2003). The efficacy of the current FANC model is also evaluated. Third, associations between government services receipt and children’s academic and cognitive performance in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa are investigated. The discussant will highlight key lessons learned for future investigations of the impacts of national and international policies and practices on child development in sub-Saharan Africa. This discussion will be framed within a bioecocultural model (Ferguson & Evans, in press 2017).

Sub Unit

• Social Policy

Chair

• Kim T. Ferguson, Sarah Lawrence College

Discussant

• Kim T. Ferguson, Sarah Lawrence College

Individual Presentations

• Children and Trauma in Conflict Situations: Implications for Psychosocial Development of Children in Northern Kenya - Presenting Author: Florence Kemuma Maranga, Kisii University; Salome Aleso Wangamati, Kisii University

• Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) in Malawi: How did the Policy Affect Antenatal Care Utilization and Neonatal Health Outcomes? - Presenting Author: Martina Mchenga, Stellenbosch University; Ronelle Burger, Stellenbosch University; Dieter Von Fintel, Stellenbosch University

• Combinations of Receipt of Government-provided Services and Children’s Associated Academic and Cognitive Outcomes in South Africa - Presenting Author: Nia Gordon, New York University; Erin Godfrey, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York University; J. Lawrence Aber, New York University; Linda Richter, The Human Sciences Research Council