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Begin New Search Topic Sustainable Development Goals Author Carolyn Logan

1. Who gets Involved? Insights on Civic Engagement in Africa and Implications for Fostering Volunteerism

Author:
Carolyn Logan, Josephine Appiah-Nyamekye Sanny, and Kangwook Han
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set ambitious targets for countries and societies to improve lives and livelihoods around the world. While the expectations of meeting these goals largely fall on governments, it is widely recognized that joint efforts by citizens and their governments will be needed to achieve the best outcomes. Citizen action takes place in many forms and forums, including organizing and working together on shared goals, providing mutual support and assistance, campaigning or advocating for shared needs, and engaging with governments, making demands on them, and holding them to account. While some citizens may become involved in a formal capacity, such as through paid employment in nongovernmental advocacy or service organizations and through employment with governments or other service providers, large numbers will – and must – be engaged in a voluntary capacity. Understanding the nature of this voluntary engagement is a key goal of this analysis. Advocates of volunteerism in Africa have been plagued by a lack of data on who engages in voluntary service, how much they contribute, in what formats, and what the outcomes are. Only a handful of governments have collected data on this topic. Yet our ability to foster and build support for volunteerism is partly dependent on how well we understand the ways people are already engaging every day in these critical but uncompensated contributions in pursuit of the public good. Afrobarometer data can help to fill this void. Although Afrobarometer has not collected data with the explicit aim of studying volunteerism, for more than 20 years it has captured extensive, nationally representative data on respondents’ levels of political and civic participation (much of which can be classed as volunteerism) across seven rounds of surveys in 38 countries. This includes membership in religious and civic organizations and participation in individual and collective efforts to engage with leaders and to voice community needs. In particular, in addition to membership in associations, Afrobarometer tracks the contact of respondents with political and community leaders, their attendance at community meetings, and their efforts to join with others to address issues or express their views. These kinds of civic engagement are the cornerstone of volunteerism to solve problems and improve lives. Understanding who engages, under what circumstances, and why provides a foundation on which to more effectively promote civic engagement and volunteerism in pursuit of the SDGs and other development objectives. This paper explores Afrobarometer data on civic engagement with four main goals: specify how Afrobarometer indicators of civic engagement link to core understandings of volunteerism and its various typologies; map profiles and patterns of the people who engage in volunteerism, especially at the country level; model voluntary civic engagement to identify the key factors and contexts that facilitate or inhibit it at both the individual and country levels; and use these profiles and models to identify entry points for activists who want to foster or support voluntary civic engagement. Our analysis identifies several factors that shape voluntary civic engagement, from socio- demographic ones such as education and wealth to citizens’ socio-political engagement, their personal sense of efficacy, and their overall trust in their governments. Country contexts are important, as we see wide cross-country differences in levels of volunteerism. Among other aspects, wealthier countries, on average, report less volunteerism, while democracies report more. We have found evidence that confronting unmet needs – whether one’s own or those of others – is a major motivating factor of voluntary engagement. These findings suggest a number of opportunities and entry points for increasing citizen engagement. The paper is organized in four parts. Part A begins with a discussion of knowledge on volunteerism and participation, highlighting the lack of evidence and data sources on Africa and how civic engagement intersects with volunteerism. Part B develops descriptive profiles of the participants in voluntary civic engagement. Part C explores key driving factors at the individual and country levels. The final section presents recommendations for acting on these findings.
Topic:
Development, Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainability, and Civic Engagement
Political Geography:
Africa

2. Gains and Gaps: Perceptions and Experiences of Gender in Africa

Author:
Carmen Alpin Lardies, Dominique Dryding, and Carolyn Logan
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
Key findings Africans share at least some of the SDG ambitions to create more equal societies. Across 34 countries, substantial majorities support women’s right to run for political office (71%) and to own and inherit land (72%). They are less committed, however, to full economic equality: A much slimmer majority (53%) favour equal access to paying jobs for women, compared to 42% who believe men should have preference. And even a woman’s fundamental right to physical safety has less-than-universal support: More than one in four Africans (28%) – including 24% of women – still see wife-beating as justifiable. In Gabon and Liberia, seven in 10 citizens share this view. While most Africans say girls and boys now have equal access to education, significant gender gaps in educational achievement remain. Even among the youngest cohort, more women than men have no formal education, and more men than women have post-primary schooling. Large majorities also say that women have achieved equal access to jobs. But women are less likely to participate in the labour market (55% vs. 67% of men), and among those who do, women are more likely to be unemployed (52% vs. 39%). About one in eight women (12%) say they experienced discrimination based on their gender during the past year. One in three (32%) Liberian women report this experience. Women lag behind men in ownership of assets and are substantially less likely to have decision-making power over household resources. Women also trail men on indicators of digital access and connection. And the gap may be widening: Although women’s Internet use has doubled over the past five years, the gender gap in regular Internet use has increased. Africans are divided on the question of whether women are making progress; 49% say equal opportunities and treatment for women are better than a few years ago, but almost as many say they are the same (31%) or worse (19%). Nonetheless, almost two-thirds (64%) give their governments positive marks on promoting equal rights. There is, in short, some disconnect between popular satisfaction with equality performance and significant – and sometimes growing – gaps in actual achievement.
Topic:
Education, Gender Issues, Poverty, Inequality, Sustainable Development Goals, and Feminism
Political Geography:
Africa

3. Ambitious SDG Goal Confronts Challenging Realities: Access to Justice is still Elusive for Many Africans

Author:
Carolyn Logan
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
Access to justice for all citizens has long been recognized as a cornerstone of democracy, good governance, and effective and equitable development. Its centrality has recently been highlighted in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG16), which calls for all societies to “promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels” (United Nations, 2016). The United Nations Development Programme (2004) has even described access to justice as a basic human right. Access to justice is described broadly as the ability of citizens to “seek and obtain remedies” (American Bar Association, 2012, i) and to “prevent the abuse of their rights and obtain remedies when such rights are abused” (United States Agency for International Development, 2010, 12). Providing access to justice requires meeting several conditions. It requires a legal framework that protects citizens’ rights and that is known and comprehensible to ordinary people. It requires that court costs are reasonable and that legal counsel is both available and affordable. And it requires that citizens are confident that laws will be fairly and effectively applied. In short, it requires the existence of a remedy, citizens with the legal empowerment and capacity to seek a remedy, and a court system with the capacity and will to provide an effective remedy (International Commission of Jurists, 2009). These conditions are often evaluated through expert assessments. However, the perspectives of ordinary citizens – including both the public at large and actual users of the legal system – can shed critical light on the extent to which people enjoy access to justice. Do ordinary citizens use the legal system to resolve disputes, or do they avoid it? Do they have confidence in court decisions, and in their own ability to secure just outcomes? Can they obtain the legal advice they need, and afford to pursue a case? And when they do go to court, what are their experiences? Are women, the poor, or marginalized groups treated differently than men or wealthy elites?
Topic:
Development, Inequality, Sustainable Development Goals, Justice, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Africa

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