- Title
- The perceptions of Government Social Protection Programmes in mitigating the challenges faced by street children in Harare Metropolitan Province in Zimbabwe
- Creator
- Gunhidzirai, Constance
- Subject
- Poverty Alleviation Street children
- Date Issued
- 2020
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Doctoral
- Type
- PhD (Social Work)
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/17998
- Identifier
- vital:42002
- Description
- This study was aimed at examining the perceptions of Government Social Protection Programmes in mitigating the challenges faced by street children in Harare Metropolitan Province in Zimbabwe. The study was based on the pragmatism paradigm that triangulated both quantitative and qualitative research methods of collecting data. A questionnaire survey was administered to 202 street children while 32 heads of households were involved in focus group discussions and four Social Workers took part in semi-structured interviews. Drawing from the Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA), Psychoanalysis Theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (EST) that guided the study, the findings revealed that street children experienced economic, social, physical and psychological challenges that hindered their attainment of full growth and development. Findings further revealed that street children adopted various coping strategies to mitigate the challenges they encountered in the streets to ensure sustainability. Furthermore, not all Government Social Protection Programmes were effective in addressing the plights of street children. This was due to inadequate funds, corruption and discriminatory criteria for selection of beneficiaries. These impediments hindered the provision of comprehensive social welfare services to street children, which led street children to adopt various coping strategies to mitigate the challenges they encountered in their efforts to ensure sustainability. The study concludes that Government Social Protection Programmes (GSPPs) such as Basic Education Assistance Module, Child Adoption, Institutional Care, National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Free vii Treatment Order and Harmonized Cash Transfer are not entirely addressing the challenges facing street children in Harare Metropolitan Province. This is because of the criteria used to select street children, which systematically excludes them from benefitting, resulting in extended impoverishment and vulnerability. The study further recommends that the government of Zimbabwe provide productive safety nets and sponsor self-help projects to empower vulnerable households, and source out additional resources such as human resource and finance for Social Protection Programmes from Non-Government Organisations, private companies
- Format
- 324 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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UFH Department of Social Work & Social Development
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | GUNHIDZIRAI CONSTANCE DISSERTATION.pdf | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |