CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE Region Ten (10)
Ministry of Communities Building cohesive, empowered and sustainable communities
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 1 Upper Demerara-Berbice
Published by
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
72 Brickdam, Georgetown, Guyana. South America. www.unicef.org/guyana
Unicef Guyana & Suriname
UNICEF GUYANA & SURINAME
United Nations Children’s Fund
September 2017
2 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) Table of Contents
Regional Profile ...... 4
Background ...... 5
Child Development ...... 7
Child Protection ...... 8
Water and Sanitation ...... 9
Vaccinations ...... 10
Breastfeeding ...... 11
Reproductive Health ...... 12
Education ...... 13
Health ...... 14
Other ...... 15
Conclusions ...... 16
Annex ...... 17
There is no better investment in this world than investment in children. — President David Granger, August 21, 2017
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 3 Upper Demerara-Berbice Region 10 Upper Demerara-Berbice
The inland region of Upper Demerara- Berbice contains the largest portion of the Hilly Sand and Clay Area. Guyana’s principal bauxite deposits are found in the White Sands area. The 39,992 people of this ‘bauxite region’ work mainly with bauxite companies Linmine (at Linden and Ituni) and Bermine (at Everton and Kwakwani). The extracted bauxite is exported to make aluminum. Cattle rearing and forestry are also done on very small scales. The regional centre is in the town of Linden where the majority of the region’s population resides.
Location of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice)
4 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) Background Background Context
The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) are committed to the wellbeing and development of Guyanese children.
The Government, at the national and sub-national levels, is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). UNICEF is the custodian or co-custodian of 10 of the SDG indicators (stunting, wasting/overweight, skilled attendance at birth, under five mortality, neonatal mortality, early childhood development, early marriage, FGM/C, child discipline and sexual violence against children).
This commitment is demonstrated by their support for the generation and dissemination of evidence to inform the development of plans, policies, projects, and programmes to address equity gaps in areas of survival, lifelong learning, protection, and participation of children.
Need for Developmental Data
Building sustainable communities is part of the Ministry of Communities’ mandate. An essential component of sustainable communities is being child-friendly. This effort to develop child friendly regional data profiles is a repackaging of existing data, from empirical sources, in a way that is specific to a region, and can be used by decision makers, to the fullest extent possible, for the realisation of child rights. It can also assist in supporting the achievement of the SDGs.
Disaggregated data on social indicators are an essential component of evidence informed policies, plans, projects and programmes. It enables actors to effectively monitor progress toward the realisation of national and international goals and commitments and helps to measure whether these goals have been achieved and to what extent. Data supports national and sub-national governance structures to focus their interventions on the most deprived thereby reducing inequities and identify capacity deprivations for corresponding capacity building initiatives.
This child-friendly regional profile compiled by the Government of Guyana through its Ministry of Communities, in collaboration with UNICEF, provides current information for all actors.
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 5 Upper Demerara-Berbice
Methodology
The process of developing this profile was participatory and involved varied stakeholders.
Using the Multiple Cluster Indicators Survey (MICS) 2014 and other national surveys, consultations were carried out with the Regional Administration and others to present the findings, seek consensus and validate processes.
The data presented and the profile prepared represent a commitment by the regional administration and stakeholders to sustainable community development that is child friendly.
The profile indicates areas of achievements and areas of depravations, some of which are the lowest in the country.
Undoubtedly the regional administration, national government, local actors and international development partners will work to address the issues the data unfolds.
6 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) Child Development Child Development
Achievements /Areas for Attention Fig. 1.1: Early Childhood Development 62.7 percent of the children of this region Indexi are developmentally on track in at least three of the following four domains: literacy-numeracy, physical, social- Upper Demerara-Berbice 62.7% emotional, and learning
National 61.0%
Fig. 1.2: Inadequate Careii 5.3 percent of children under age five are left alone or in the care of another child Upper Demerara-Berbice 5.30% younger than 10 years more than one hour at least once in the week before the data was collected. National 5.0%
Fig. 1.3: Support for Learningiii An adult has engaged 94.8 percent of children age 36-59 months in four or Upper Demerara-Berbice 94.8% more activities to promote learning and school readiness in the last three days. National 87.2%
Fig. 1.4: Attendance to Early Childhood 62.7 percent of children age 36-59 months Educationiv attend an early childhood education programme. This is marginally higher that the national average (which also needs Upper Demerara-Berbice 62.7% improvement). National 61.0%
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 7 Upper Demerara-Berbice Child Protection
Achievements /Areas for Attention Fig. 2.1: Birth Registrationv 85 percent Birth Registration is slightly lower than the national average of 88.7 Upper Demerara-Berbice 85.0% percent. Efforts should be made to realise 100 percent. National 88.7%
Fig. 2.2: Marriage Before Age 15 [Female]vi 3.6 percent of the females in this region get married before age 15. Early child Upper Demerara-Berbice 3.6% marriages affect the social fabric of the community negatively. National 5.0%
Fig. 2.3: Violent Disciplinevii Violent discipline of children is high at 65.1 percent and presents an area of work Upper Demerara-Berbice 65.1% for all actors.
National 69.7%
Fig. 2.4: Child Labourviii 27.8 percent (more than one in four) of the children age 5-17 years, in this region, Upper Demerara-Berbice 27.8% are involved in child labour. Child labour is associated with school attendance delinquency and/or school dropout. National 18.3% This area should be investigated and interventions developed.
8 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) Water and Sanitation Water and Sanitation
Achievements /Areas for Attention Fig. 3.1: Use of Improved Drinking 90 percent of residents have access to Sourcesix improved drinking water sources. Efforts should be made to achieve 100 percent. Upper Demerara-Berbice 90.0%
National 94.2%
Fig. 3.2: Water Treatmentx 31.4 percent of the population undertake some form of water treatment. Un- Upper Demerara-Berbice 31.4% treated water is linked to high incidences of diseases and water-borne illnesses. National 27.4%
Fig. 3.3: Availability of Soap or 61.8 percent of the region’s population Other Cleaning Detergentsxi have soap or any other cleansing agent available at the time of the survey for sanitation purposes. This places the Upper Demerara-Berbice 61.8% region second to last out of the ten administrative regions on improved National 68.7% sanitation within the area.
Fig. 3.4: Place for Handwashingxii 58.2 percent of the region’s population have made provisions for a place of handwashing. This number must increase Upper Demerara-Berbice 58.2% for the achievement of this SDG. National 57.5%
Fig. 3.5: Safe Disposal of Child Faecesxiii Safe disposal of the faeces of children of the region is only practiced by 40.9 percent of the population, representing Upper Demerara-Berbice 40.9% less than half of the region having access to any form of a safe and hygienic waste National 43.0% disposal system. This area should be focused on for the achievement of the SDG.
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 9 Upper Demerara-Berbice Vaccinations
Achievements /Areas for Attention Fig. 4.1: Polio Immunisation Coveragexiv Childhood immunisation for Polio has not attained the goal of 100 percent but is 90 Upper Demerara-Berbice 90.0% percent and 0.1 percent higher than the national average. National 89.9% Fig. 4.2: Tuberculosis Immunisation Tuberculosis immunisation is high, 94.6 Coveragexv percent and on par with the national average.
Upper Demerara-Berbice 94.6%
National 94.6% Fig. 4.3: Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus Childhood immunisation for DPT is 90 (DPT) Immunisation Coverage percent and higher than the national xvi average. There should be interventions to (Pentavelnt) increase this to 100 percent.
Upper Demerara-Berbice 90.0%
National 89.2% Fig. 4.4: Measles Immunisation Coveragexvii Childhood immunisation for measles at 98 percent has not attained the goal of 100 percent but has exceeded the Upper Demerara-Berbice 98.0% national average. National 94.1% Fig. 4.5: Yellow Fever Immunisation Yellow fever immunisation and neonatal Coveragexviii tentanus protection, at 19.7 percent and 30.8 percent respectively, are very low and need urgent attention. The region Upper Demerara-Berbice 19.7% places last in the country for yellow fever immunisation which is more than three National 71.5% times lower than the national average of 71 percent. Fig. 4.6: Neonatal Tetanus Protectionxix
Upper Demerara-Berbice 30.8%
National 22.3%
10 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) Breastfeeding Breastfeeding
Achievements /Areas for Attention Fig. 5.1: Child Ever Breastfedxx 91.8 percent of the population of infants in the region were breastfed at least once. Upper Demerara-Berbice 91.8% However, breastfeeding overall is an area in need of urgent attention. National 91.4%
Fig. 5.2: Milk Fed since Removal of 84.3 percent of the population have been Breastfeedingxxi milk fed since removal from breastfeeding, a statistic that should be improved to 100 percent especially since breastfeeding is Upper Demerara-Berbice 84.3% low and stopped at an early age.
National 78.7%
Fig. 5.3: Exclusive Breastfeeding Under The breastfeeding indicators for the Six Monthsxxii region are low. The goal is 100 percent exclusive breastfeeding under six months. In this region, exclusive breastfeeding Upper Demerara-Berbice 23.1% stands at 23.1 percent. Efforts should be targeted on increasing this indicator National 23.3% since it has an impact on the future health of children and their social development.
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 11 Upper Demerara-Berbice Reproductive Health
Achievements /Areas for Attention Fig. 6.1: Adolescent Birth Ratexxiv The indicators show the region is on track with its reproductive health capacities Upper Demerara-Berbice 2.7% in both its prenatal and postnatal care of children. Adolescent birth rate at 2.7 percent is below the national average of National 3.9% 3.9 percent.
Fig. 6.2: Antenatal Care Coveragexxv Antenatal care coverage, which has an impact on both the health of the woman Upper Demerara-Berbice 95.4% and child is both high and above the national average. National 87.9%
Fig. 6.3: Postnatal Health Check Postnatal health check for newborns is for Newbornsxxvi also high at 97.2 percent and above the national average. Upper Demerara-Berbice 97.2%
National 91.8%
Fig. 6.4: Contraceptive Prevalence Ratexxvii 39.1 percent of the region’s population use contraceptives, an area that needs improvement. Upper Demerara-Berbice 39.1% There should also be an increase in the National 34.3% number of reproductive health care providers which can have a positive impact on the wellbeing of infants and newborns.
12 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) Education Education
Achievements /Areas for Attention Fig. 7.1: School Readinessxxviii The indicators of education observed in the region overall is high indicating Upper Demerara-Berbice 93.8% that the region is on track in meeting the exclusive goal of 100 percent. School National 76.0% readiness is high at 93.8 percent.
Fig. 7.2: Net Intake in Primary Educationxxix Net intake in Primary Education is high at 82 percent, exceeding the national Upper Demerara-Berbice 82.0% average. However, efforts should be made to realize 100 percent. National 78.6%
Fig. 7.3: Transition Rate to Secondary The transition rate to Secondary school Schoolxxx in this region is 98.6 percent which is commendable and should be maintained. Upper Demerara-Berbice 98.6%
National 88.5%
Fig. 7.4: Availability of Children’s Booksxxxi The availability of learning materials and resources needed for a successful and fulfilling school life can be increased. Upper Demerara-Berbice 56.5% More than 40 percent of the region’s children do not have adequate children’s National 41.2% books. Only 41.2 percent have children books. The availability of children’s books is linked to support for learning, higher IQs in children and higher school performance.
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 13 Upper Demerara-Berbice Health
Achievements /Areas for Attention Fig. 8.1: Use of Tobacco [Male]xxxii 9.1 percent of males use tobacco, less than half of the national average but the Upper Demerara-Berbice 9.1% goal is zero.
National 20.7%
Fig. 8.2: Smoking Before Age 15 6.6 percent of males below age 15 [Male]xxxiii (essentially children) smoke, a figure that is less than national average which is 9.4 percent. Upper Demerara-Berbice 6.6%
National 9.4%
Fig. 8.3: Use of Alcohol [Male]xxxiv 60 percent of males in the region use alcohol. This is a cause of concern as it can lead to unwanted social consequences Upper Demerara-Berbice 60.0% including violence against women and children. National 63.0%
Alcohol use among males below 15 years of age is also high at 21 percent.
14 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) Conclusions Conclusions
This child-friendly profile represents an important first step in the presentation of regional aggregated indicators of women and children.
It can be an important addition to the resources in the achievement of national goals and policies.
It is hoped that the resource will be used by all actors in the achievement of a more child-friendly society.
As this is a first step, the Ministry of Communities welcomes your feedback and response to the document. Feedback will allow us to improve future editions.
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 15 Upper Demerara-Berbice Annex i. Number of children age 36-59 months who are xiii. Number of children age 0-2 years whose last stools developmentally on track in at least three of the were disposed of safely. Total number of children aged following four domains: literacy-numeracy, physical, 0-2 years. social-emotional, and learning. Total number of children age 36-59 months. xiv. Number of children age 12-23 months who received the third dose of OPV vaccine (OPV3) by their first ii. Number of children under age 5 left alone or in the birthday. Total number of children aged 12-23 months. care of another child younger than 10 years of age for more than one hour at least once in the last week.Total xv. Number of children age 12-23 months who received number of children under age 5. BCG vaccine by their first birthday. Total number of children aged 12-23 months. iii. Number of children age 36-59 months with whom an adult has engaged in four or more activities to xvi. Number of children age 12-23 months who received promote learning and school readiness in the last 3 days. the third dose of DPT vaccine (DPT3) by their first Total number of children aged 36-59 months. birthday. Total number of children aged 12-23 months. iv. Number of children age 36-59 months who are xvii. Number of children age 24-35 months who received attending an early childhood education programme. measles vaccine by their second birthday. Total number Total number of children aged 36-59 months. of children aged 24-35 months. v. Number of children under age 5 whose births are xviii. Number of children age 24-35 months who reported registered.Total number of children under age received yellow fever vaccine by their second birthday. 5. Total number of children aged 24-35 months. vi. Number of women age 15-49 years who were first xix. Number of women age 15-49 years with a live birth married or in union before age 15. Total number of in the last 2 years who were given at least two doses of women aged 15-49 years. tetanus toxoid vaccine within the appropriate interval prior to the most recent birth. Total number of women vii. Number of children age 1-14 years who experienced age 15-49 years with a live birth in the last 2 years psychological aggression or physical punishment during the last one month. Total number of children aged 1-14 xx. Number of women with a live birth in the last 2 years years. who breastfed their last live-born child at any time. Total number of women with a live birth in the last 2 years. viii. Number of children age 5-17 years who are involved in child labourTotal number of children age 5-17 years. xxi. Number of non-breastfed children age 6-23 months who received at least 2 milk feedings during the previous ix. Number of household members using improved day. Total number of non-breastfed children age 6-23 sources of drinking water. Total number of household months members. xxii. Number of infants under 6 months of age who are x. Number of household members in households using exclusively breastfedTotal number of infants under 6 unimproved drinking water who use an appropriate months of age. treatment method.Total number of household members in households using unimproved drinking water sources. xxiii. The age in months when 50 percent of children age 0-35 months did not receive breast milk during the xi. Number of households with soap or other cleansing previous day. agents. Total number of household. xxiv. Age-specific fertility rate for women age 15-19 xii. Number of households with a specific place for years. hand washing where water and soap or other cleansing agents are present. Total number of households. xxv. Number of women age 15-49 years with a live birth in the last 2 years who were attended during their last
16 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) Annex pregnancy that led to a live birth of men aged 15-24 years.
(a) at least once by skilled health personneland xxxvii. Number of women age 15-24 years who are very or somewhat satisfied with their life, overall. Total (b) at least four times by any provider. The number of number of women aged 15-24 years. women aged 15-49 years who has given a live birth in the last 2 years. xxxviii. Number of men age 15-49 years who, at least once a week, read a newspaper or magazine, listen to the xxvi. Number of last live births in the last 2 years who radio, and watch television. Total number of men aged received a health check while in facility or at home 15-49 years. following delivery, or a post-natal care visit within 2 days after delivery. Total number of last live births in the last xxxix. Number of men age 15-49 years who, at least 2 years.Total number of last live births in the last 2 years. once a week, read a newspaper or magazine, listen to the radio, and watch television. Total number of men aged xxvii. Number of women age 15-49 years currently 15-49 years. married or in union who are using (or whose partner is using) a (modern or traditional) contraceptive method. Total number of women age 15-49 years who are currently married or in union. xxviii. Number of children in first grade of primary school who attended pre-school during the previous school year. Total number of children attending the first grade of primary school. xxix. Number of children of school-entry age who enter the first grade of primary school. Total number of children of school entry age. xxx. Number of children attending the last grade of primary school during the previous school year who are in the first grade of secondary school during the current school year.Total number of children attending the last grade of primary school during the previous school year. xxxi. Number of children under age 5 who have three or more children’s books. Total number of children under age 5. xxxii. Number of men age 15-49 years who smoked cigarettes, or used smoked or smokeless tobacco products at any time during the last one month. Total number of men aged 15-49 years. xxxiii. Number of men age 15-49 years who smoked a whole cigarette before age 15. Total number of males aged 15-49 years. xxxiv. Probability of dying within the first month of life. xxxv. Number of men age 15-49 years who had at least one alcoholic drink at any time during the last one month. Total number of men aged 15-49 years. xxxvi. Number of men age 15-24 years who are very or somewhat satisfied with their life, overall. Total number
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 17 Upper Demerara-Berbice Notes
18 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) Notes
CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10) 19 Upper Demerara-Berbice
20 CHILD-FRIENDLY REGIONAL PROFILE - Region Ten (10)