Workshop Report
“Knowledge Management on Children's Status in MENA Cities”
Amman, 24th-25th November 2004
The MENA CPI organized a workshop entitled “Knowledge Management on Children's Status in MENA Cities”, during 24th-25th November 2004, at the Jordan Hotel in Amman, in collaboration with the Greater Amman Municipality. The workshop focused on the following objectives.
1. Review the status quo of children in the Middle East and North Africa region through the assessment undertaken in 10 cities.
2. Determine the knowledge gaps and problems relating to the management of knowledge specific to urban children.
3. Define the tools and practical techniques that can be used in addressing those gaps.
4. Discuss the component, of a strategy for establishing and managing knowledge at the level of municipalities.
5. Define the role of possible partners in this strategy.
Participants to the workshop included representatives of national childhood councils from Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria, Egypt and Khartoum State, and also representatives of the municipalities of Riyadh, Al-Madina, Khartoum, Alexandria, Amman, Irbid, and Beirut; in addition to representatives of the Arab Council for Childhood and Development, the UNICEF, Quest Scope organization for Social Development and the International Program to limit Child labor, International Labor Organization (ILO).
Participants to this workshop also included researchers who have undertaken studies on the status quo of urban children in Amman, Gaza, Beirut, Riyadh, Al-Madina, Kuwait, Khartoum Sana’a, Alexandria, and Algiers. The researchers in charge of the cities of Casablanca and Tehran could not attend.
The workshop was inaugurated by a welcome address by H.E. Eng. Nidal Al-Hadid, Lord Mayor of Amman, Eng. Ahmed Al-Salloum, Director General of AUDI, Dr. Gamal Mahmoud Hamid, Director of MENA CPI. All of them underlined the role played by the Initiative regarding children’s’ issues and the importance of the workshop.
What follows is a summary of the workshop activities:
First day – Wednesday 24th November 2004.
The first day of the workshop consisted of 10 papers, representing contributions from 10 Arab cities, dealing with the status quo of children, the knowledge gap and the ways in which it can be addressed. The papers were presented over 3 sessions: The first session, presided over by Dr. Gamal Hamid, focused on the status quo of children and the knowledge gap in the cities of Amman and Beirut. It included interventions by representatives of the national childhood councils and municipalities of Amman and Beirut.
The second session was presided over and presented by Dr. Thaira Shalan, the Programme Director of the Arab Council for Childhood and Development, and focused on the same themes with reference to the cities of Riyadh, Kuwait and Al-Madina. The representatives of the national childhood councils and municipalities of the latter cities contributed to this session with their views.
The third session was presided over by Dr. Eli Mechael, Secretary General of higher childhood council, Lebanon, and was devoted to a discussion of studies undertaken in Alexandria, Khartoum, Sana’a and Algiers, to which contributed representatives of municipalities and national childhood councils of the same cities.
The main focus of the papers presented in the first day of the workshop, and the interventions and discussions made by the participants, was on the major problems confronting children in cities and, correlatively, the difficulties of knowledge building on the issues of urban children in the MENA region. The latter problems can be summed up as follows:
I. The problems
A. The educational sector
1. The rising rate of drop-outs from schools in most MENA countries, regardless of the economic standards of the countries in question.
2. The deterioration of educational standards and the social correlatively, the scarcity of educational activities at school, and the absence of a suitable environment that can foster the creative energies of children, whether in rich or poor countries (e.g. theatres, libraries, play-grounds).
3. The scarcity of necessary equipment in most schools, particularly with regard to pupils with special needs and, conversely, the inadequate predisposition of schools to integrate this category of children.
B. The Health Sector
1. There is a discrepancy underlying urban health standards, for example, infant mortality is on the rise in cities such as Sana’a and Khartoum, whereas its incidence is low in such cities such as Beirut, Riyadh and Amman.
2. The negative impacts of violence and armed conflicts in some cities of the region such as Gaza, Algiers, and Khartoum particularly, on the mental and psychological health of children.
3. The negative impact of pollution and overpopulation on the safety and health of children, especially the poverty stricken areas where no play-grounds or public areas are available for children.
4. There are numerous factors that pose a threat to the safety of children, such a female circumcision, road accidents, addiction to drugs, etc.
5. There are several health problems associated with nutrition in some cities. These involve health problems caused by malnutrition on the one hand, and obesity on the other.
C. The Social Sector
1. The widespread presence of violence against children, such as physical and sexual violence, and psychological pressure on children at school, in the family, and in society in general.
2. Sexual discrimination against female children in education and in public places.
3. Uncritical reliance on fast-food and household servants (maids and drivers) in some cities, the influence of this phenomenon on children and its impact upon the role of the family.
4. The scarcity of leisure activities, whether sports or cultural activities.
D. Street Children
1. This phenomenon is present in poor and rich Arab countries alike, but to different degrees.
2. The wandering of children in the street entails several dangerous consequences – among which: begging, child labor, delinquency, drug addiction, to cite just a few behavioral problems
3. Among the main causes of the latter phenomenon: poverty; drop-outs from school; divorce; drug abuse; failure to register children at birth, and consequently the child’s illegibility to educational and other rights and services; the absence of an educational environment that attracts children to school; and the scarcity of jobs in the future.
E. Children with Special Needs.
1. The scarcity of services made available to children with special needs and handicapped children. It is remarkable that the upgrading of such services has affected mainly their quantitative aspects, and not so much of their qualitative aspects.
2. The emerging problem of orphans and children without parents, and the ongoing attempts to address such problems by providing alternative families, step-mothers, and adoption.
II. The Difficulties
1. The absence of data on the status of urban children, especially on child labor, street children, children with special needs, and the absence of information disaggregated by gender and urban/rural residence.
2. It is noteworthy that the lack of information is not limited to poor countries, but encompasses also rich countries, which implies that financial resources per se do not account for the scarcity of knowledge.
3. It is noteworthy that there is no agency that undertakes the collection of data, and statistics from the institutions charged with children welfare.
4. Poor collaboration between institutions dealing with children, hence the problem of incoherent and conflicting information.
5. The presence of a wide range of different concepts and terminologies used with reference to children’s issues (e.g. street children, vagrant children, children with unknown parents etc.)
6. Studies point to a gap underlying documentation and the use of available information due to the under-qualification of the personnel in charge of documentation.
7. The reliance on official, government sources as the main source of knowledge and information on the status quo of children, hence the importance of transparency in the collection and analysis of information for the purpose of implementing programmes and strategies.
8. The absence of rigorous legislations and laws and ineffective implementation and follow-up.
III. The Recommendations
The participants in the first day made the following recommendations:
1. Building a knowledge base on the status quo of urban children by using a variety of sources for data collection, and focusing on quantitative as well as qualitative knowledge.
2. Establishing a unit for conducting research and studies on children issues at the level of municipalities – notably: collecting data, analyzing and publishing information, conducting studies and undertaking on children’s issues, and preparing periodical reports on the status quo of children in cities and municipalities.
3. The importance of collaboration and networking between governmental and non-governmental institutions for exchange of information.
4. Provide training to the required personnel that will undertake the collection and analysis of information on urban children’s issues.
5. Increase the social role of municipalities particularly with regard to children related issues and raise the awareness of high ranking municipal officials with regard to children’s issues, children’s rights and the importance of activating relevant international laws.
6. Solicit the private sector’s support of children related projects, including conducting research and field work on urban children’s issues
7. Exchange information and expertise among Arab cities and municipalities on the status quo of children at the national and regional levels.
The Second Day of the Workshop (25th November 2004) consisted of two sessions.
The first session was presided over by General Izzat Sha`aban, first secretary of the Governor of Alexandria. The meeting started with Dr. Hind Khalifa's presentation of a summary of the issues discussed in the previous day, notably the problems and difficulties relating to knowledge management on of urban children in the region. Dr. Hind also recalled the recommendations made by the participants on the first day of the workshop (enclosed in part III of the present report). The next paper was presented by Dr. Krishna Belbase, in which he addressed the issues of knowledge and information on children’s issues, underlying the persistent challenges and the knowledge gap in this regard. Dr. Krishna gave a detailed presentation of the DevInfo computer programme developed by UNICEF for presentation of information relating to development, which includes children’s issues.
Prof. Osman Al-Hassan M. Nour also presented a paper on the techniques of collecting and analyzing data relating to children, such as population census, sample surveys on childhood and motherhood issues mothers, children and so on. He underlined the importance of the participation of civil society in such research and studies participatory rapid appraisal (PRA).
The second session was presided and conduced by Dr. Gamal Mahmoud Hamid, who defined the issues to be discussed and divided the participants into 3 groups, each of which focused on discussing the following issues:
· Determining the specific deficiencies and knowledge gaps (the causes, the impact, and the priorities).
· Determining the means whereby the knowledge gaps can be effectively addressed.
· Defining the agencies and partners that can contribute to addressing the knowledge gaps.
The group coordinators, Prof. Osman Nour, Dr. Hind Khalifa and Mr. Yasir Awad Elkarim, then presented detailed report on the group discussion and outlined the role of partners in the light of suggestions made by the Arab Council for Childhood and Development, the UNICEF, as well as municipalities and Arab National Childhood Councils.
What follows is a summary of the major issues discussed in round-tables:
(1) The First Issue
(A) The knowledge Deficiencies
· The deficiencies in data and statistics on urban children, their socially specific categories, and the presence of conflicting information in available databases. Correlatively, deficiency in information on the families of such children and their social and economic situation.
· The quantitative and qualitative deficiency in statistics on the status quo of disadvantaged and vulnerable children, specifying their gender, social status, category, and whether they live in urban or rural areas and, correlatively, the deficiency in information on the rehabilitation of these children and their reintegration into society.
· The deficiency in information accounting for the emergence of such categories of children in society, the scale of such a phenomenon and its social impact and consequences.
· The deficiency in information relating to breaches of children’s rights, such as physical and sexual violence, psychological pressure, and so on.
· The deficiency in statistically supported information on the status quo of children in regions beset by armed conflicts and natural disasters.
· The absence of varied sources of information, the reliance on theoretical reports, and the absence of thorough field-work conducted on the status quo of children. All these problems are conveyed by the absence of a clearly set methodology and strategy in the collection of data and data analysis in studies undertaken on children’s issue.
· The absence of collaboration networks for exchange of information among concerned sectors.
· The absence of a social approach to the issues and to knowledge management.
· Absence of the role of municipalities as a partner in building data bases on children.
· The deficiency in documenting information on children in some sectors.
· Scarcity of information on legislations and lack of bearing upon the ways in which disadvantaged and vulnerable children need to be approached and dealt with, and the scarcity of information on the expected role of various state institutions such as the mass media, cities, the family, and civil society.
· The scarcity in statistically supported information on the degree of poverty in some social sectors and its impact on children, and the current state of programmes addressing this issue.
(B). The Scarcity of Data and its Causes
· The official sources of data do not cover all urban children categories, particularly disadvantaged and vulnerable children.
· The underestimation of particular data on behalf of the agencies collecting information and the dissemination of particular types of information on account of its sensitive character, and the absence of a nationally defined mechanism addressing the scarcity of data on the status quo of children.
· The scarcity of adequate human and material resources and qualified personnel.
· Inadequate of training programmes on the techniques of data collection and its sources.
· The absence of qualified agencies in charge of supervising the status quo of children (follow-up and evaluation) and the documentation of data.
· The scarcity of collaboration among the sectors in charge of knowledge and databases on children’s issues, and the absence of collaboration between governmental, non-governmental, and charity associations.
· The absence of an adequate role played by the mass media in providing information on the welfare services provided by institutions for children.
· The adoption of conflicting strategies in the sectors concerned with childhood and the absence of a commitment in their implementation; hence the absence of clearly outlined roles.
· The inadequacy of research methodologies deployed in studies undertaken on children’s issue.
(C). The Priorities
· The formation of a Childhood Unit at the level of municipalities and a network of high ranking municipal authorities, so as to exchange information and expertise on children’s issues and the ways of addressing them.
· The protection of children by supporting their growth, by providing welfare programmes that include health and social care, culture and education.
· The participation of civil society in addressing children’s problems and issues, particularly those related to disadvantaged and vulnerable children.
· Defining the problems raised by the status quo of children, their priorities, and the ways of addressing them.
· Provide training and qualifying programmes in the filed of childhood to the agencies charged with the collection, organization, and analysis of data on children.
· Raising the awareness of high ranking officials and decision-makers on children’s issues, their problems and needs.
· Devising planning strategies and programmes on the methods and techniques of collecting data.
· Foster and upgrade the approaches and methodologies used in the study of childhood issues, undertake assessment studies, and ensure a follow-up of projects and programmes concerned with children’s issue.
(D). The Impact of the Knowledge Gap
· The inability of decision-makers to take into consideration the knowledge & data collected on children in devising programmes and strategies and making the appropriate decisions.
· The absence of a realistic perspective on the status quo of children and the absence of follow-up mechanisms.
· The waste of material and human capacities and potential
· The failure to fulfill the objectives and the resulting sense of frustration experienced by the agencies working in the childhood sector.
(2) The Second Issue
How can the knowledge gap be addressed?
· By means of undertaking statistical studies on the concerned areas with the aim of collecting and updating data as required.
· Setting priorities in research issues with the aim to address high priority issues and the effective ways to find solution, and make recommendations to National Childhood Councils in this regard.
· Setting up a time-table for the implementation of priorities while allowing for flexible changes.
· Upgrading methodological approaches on the basis of current developments in methodologies and analysis and statistics, and avoid presenting raw data.
· Exchanging experiences among cities and encourage them to provide precise and complete information on children’s issue by using awards as an incentive.
· Upgrading the training and qualification of personnel working in the field of childhood and capacity building at the local and municipal levels.
· Organizing and conducting conferences and workshops with the purpose of collecting, organizing, analyzing, documenting and publishing data on children’ issue.
· Adopting the DevInfo programme at the scale of Arab countries with view to determine the required indices for addressing children’s issues at the level of municipalities.
· Benefiting from the expertise of researchers and university teachers in the upgrading of knowledge and scientific research on children’s issues at the level of municipalities.
· Creating a unit at the level of municipalities to take charge of data on children and coordinate with the personnel in charge of collecting information on children’s issues
· Establishing a national data-base on childhood, to be managed by qualified national teams, together with representatives from various sectors concerned with children’s issue.
· Activating and encouraging the mass media to publish and disseminate information and conduct campaigns on accomplished studies on children’s issue, and incorporate the mass media (e.g. journalists) in conferences on children’s issue.
· Creating a national website for the exchange of information among official and non-official institutions.
· Enhance commitment to childhood issues and solicit political and financial support.
· Clarifying the role of partners regarding the building up of a knowledge base on the status quo of children and providing a system that commits partners to the collection and accessing knowledge and information using the latest information technology.
(3). The Third Issue
The authorities in charge of Implementing Projects:
· Municipalities, with some flexibility, given the differences underlying their respective administrative systems.
· Higher Childhood Councils.
· Ministries and other governmental department, such as the Ministry of Urban Planning, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Welfare- all of which can complement each other in decision-making and in implementing projects.
· Non-governmental organizations and the associations concerned with the welfare of marginalized children.
· Children’s and youth’s clubs
· Political parties.
· Religious organizations.
· Statistics bureaus.
· Universities and of scientific research centers.
· A coordinating unit to coordinate relevant partners between all in the filed of childhood.
The Role of Municipalities
· Ensure the role of municipalities in protecting children and collaborating with other agencies concerned with childhood issues.
· Municipalities should update knowledge bases on children issues.
· Create an administrative unit at the level of municipalities to be in charge of childhood issues – ensuring qualified training to its agents.
The Role of Childhood Councils
· Ensure collaboration among all sectors working in the field of childhood.
· Planning programmes and policies and supervising their implementation
· Establishing a data-base on children’s issues
· Enhance awareness of childhood issues
· Provide qualified training to the personnel in charge of childhood issues and define children’s needs
· Define priority programmes
· Evaluate programmes and projects
Conclusion
In addition to the recommendations cited in [III], above, and the issues discussed in the working sessions, round-tables and meetings, the closing session of the workshop conveyed the following conclusions and recommendations:
1. It is necessary to establish a central data base on the status quo of children in each Arab state, to be supervised by The National Childhood Council and to be supported and updated by the national statistics bureau, the relevant ministries, national and international organizations, and local administrations (city councils, municipalities, NGOs..etc.) Such knowledge base should be accessible to all agents working in the field of childhood.
2. Encourage the national bureau of statistics to incorporate all necessary questions on the status quo of children in population census and produce detailed results, covering urban and rural areas in a disaggregated manner.
3. Given the extensive amount of resources required for producing detailed data, it is useful to specify high priority information and the specific type of required information; meanwhile the available information should be utilized to the maximum in designing interventions and programs.
4. It is very important to work in partnership with local administrations and municipalities, as one of the main partners, in addressing children’s needs and rights, while ensuring political commitment to these issues.