Children, Transport and Mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2007-2008

The Child Mobility project, based at Durham University, focused on the mobility constraints faced by children in accessing health, educational and other facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. There is a lack of direct information on how these constraints impact on children's current and future livelihood opportunities, and a lack of guidelines on how to tackle them. The aim of the research was to produce an evidence base strong enough to substantially improve policy in the three focus countries - Ghana, Malawi and South Africa - and to change thinking across Africa.<br> <br> The project successfully tested and implemented an innovative two-strand, child-centred methodology, involving both academic researchers and 70 young researchers. The research was conducted in eight sites per country: remote rural, rural with services, peri-urban and urban sites in two agro-ecological zones, meaning 24 sites in total. <br> <br> The survey questionnaire covered a wide range of issues, and was conducted with 2,967 children aged 7-18 years (principally 9-18 years), allowing comparisons across sites and countries. Qualitative data collected within the project covered the themes of education, health, activities and transport, based on focus groups and individual interviews with children, parents and other key informants. This enabled a more nuanced understanding than has hitherto been available of the way mobility and transport constraints interact with other factors to shape particular young lives in particular places. Users should note that only the survey data are held at the UK Data Archive. <br> <br> Findings from the research cover topics from pain and negative impacts on education associated with load carrying and other work, to the virtual mobility impacts of mobile phones and the complex interconnections between mobility, gender, work and education. The findings were sufficiently substantial to allow the development of clear guidelines for policy-makers and practitioners. <br> <br> Further information may be found on the <a href="www.dur.ac.uk/child.mobility/" title="Child Mobility">Child Mobility</a> project web site, the <a href="http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/esrcinfocentre/viewawardpage.aspx?awardnumber=RES-167-25-0028" title="">ESRC award</a> web page and on the Department for International Development <a href="http://www.dfid.gov.uk/R4D/SearchResearchDatabase.asp?projectID=60331" title="Child Mobility">Child Mobility project<a/> web page.<br> <br>