ORGANIZATION
USAID
YEAR PUBLISHED
2005
DESCRIPTION
The educational needs of children in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and The Pacific are immense. A major challenge for governments, civil society organizations, and international development agencies is to develop strategies to promote the educational development of these children, most of whom live in economically poor environments.
Since education is an integral aspect of children’s development, this paper examines existing evidence regarding the role of senior women, referred to in this paper as “grandmothers,” in children’s overall development, including education, in non-western societies (in Africa, Asia, Latin America,The Pacific, Aboriginal Australia, and Native North America).The paper also identifies the extent to which policies promoting the well-being of children support grandmothers’ inclusion in child development programming. It highlights programs around the world that have explicitly involved grandmothers and explores in some detail how one of these programs was designed to ensure grandmothers’ involvement. It concludes by exploring strategies to ensure the involvement of grandmothers in future basic education initiatives for children.
The review of the literature, policy and programs is framed by several key concepts that are not always taken into account in the design of child development programs around the world. They include: a systems approach; an assets-based approach; cultural roles and values as a foundation for program design; respect for elders and their experience; and social capital. The perspective on child development programming that emerges from the combination of these concepts points to the need to view grandmothers as key actors in family systems and as an invaluable resource for promoting optimal child development at that level.