This paper explored the extent to which Zimbabwean professional women have joined the formal sector of South Africa and the determinants of their migration in large or small numbers. It is based on a questionnaire survey conducted in 2012 and involving 200 Zimbabwean teachers, one half in Zimbabwe and the other half in South Africa. Fewer female than male teachers migrated to South Africa mainly because of females’ tendency not to progress to degree level and not to specialise in mathematics or science. Other reasons included their greater vulnerability to some types of violence such as rape, which forced them to learn South African languages fast in order to conceal their foreign identity. Women’s child-care roles and ostracism of those who migrated alone were also used to discourage them from migrating to South Africa.

 

Abstract:   

Although international declarations upholding children’s rights for survival and development were already enshrined in the domestic laws and policies of South Sudan, the reality on the ground appears to depict that scores of children in streets are as yet most marginalized and least investigated. The objectives of this study were to examine the magnitude, causes and effects of child streetism in six state capitals of South Sudan and suggest the way forward. Data on magnitude were collected using a Child Inventory Form. Then, a Child Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 756 street children. Findings indicated that child streetism was only emerging but growing at an alarming rate. The possible factors included war-induced displacement, family disruption, economic constraints, mistreatment at home, lack of access to education and child-related behavioural factors. Once in the street, children were also found exposed to a living arrangement deprived of parental supervision and support, disruption of developmentally-constructive routines, substance abuse and health concerns. In fact, the impacts were far from uniform and not all about “negatives”.

 

Abstract:   

Assessment and documentation of the status of ecosystem health and analysis of the effects of human-induced changes on a Kenyan montane natural forest, characterized by a human-dominated landscape, were done. A socioeconomic assessment of the perceptions and attitudes of the inhabitants about the importance, status and causes of degradation was carried out between August 2006 and September 2007. The provisional capacity of the reserve for goods and services was also evaluated. In order to assess individual local actions at the household level and their effects on the overall health dynamics in the forest reserve, information about the direct and indirect drivers of forest degradation at the forest reserve level was sought from the time of inhabitation until the time of study. The perceptions and attitudes of the inhabitants regarding supply of ecosystem goods and services at the forest reserve scale were evaluated. This was executed using a household survey where one hundred and fifty household heads were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. An integrated approach to defining the health of the ecosystem at the local level was attempted. Results indicated a chronological degradation in the condition of the forest over time. A continued reduction in the number and density of once dominant tree species as well as structural physiognomy was shown. Households in the South-western Mau experience an increasing decline in the supply of once abundant important goods, including fuelwood, timber, medicinal plants and poles. Disappearance of abundant and common wildlife species was also recorded. In the forest reserve, solutions to issues and problems related to encroachment on forestland and related disturbance activities lie in clear land use policy and legislation designating particular uses to particular land categories. This is urgently required to deal with the issues related to unsustainable land use.