Multidimensional Child Poverty in Slums and Unplanned Areas in Egypt Launch of the Report Cairo House - 21 October 2014
General Background • In the last 3 decades, Egypt recorded important progress in many child well-being dimensions (survival, education, access to water etc). • But uneven: some well-being indicators deteriorated (e.g. nutrition or income poverty) or stagnated. • Persistent inequalities (urban/rural, socio-economic), with children in rural areas suffering from a greater disadvantage.
General Background • Recent trend of growing inequality in urban areas and stagnation in key indicators (e.g. child survival, malnutrition). • Average data for urban areas hiding the concentration of extreme forms of poverty and deprivation in the most disadvantaged parts of urban areas, especially in informal settlements.
Aim of the study • Provide new evidence on child poverty in slums and unplanned areas in Egypt and support policy interventions informed by research evidence. • Use a methodology focusing on children, exploring deprivation on each single well-being dimension and then their overlapping, using indicators adapted to the Egyptian context.
The multidimensional poverty framework Dimension Indicator of severe deprivation For the age group 0-4 : i) children aged 2-4 who have not been fully Health immunized, or ii) children aged 0-4 who recently suffered from an illness involving diarrhea or pneumonia and had not received any medical advice or treatment. Nutrition Age group 0-4: i)children suffering of severe stunting, wasting or underweight (- 3 standard deviations from the median of the international reference population) or ii) had never breastfed at all. Age groups 5-11 and 12-17: children suffering from stunting or wasting (according to the international standards). For all age groups : Children living in households with i) no piped water Water into the dwelling, or ii) water piped into the dwelling but distribution interrupted daily For all age groups : children living in households without improved Sanitation sanitation facilities (the household is considered to have improved sanitation facilities if it has sole use of a modern or traditional flush toilet that empties into a public sewer, Bayara (vault) or septic system).
The multidimensional poverty framework Dimension Indicator of severe deprivation For all age groups: children living in dwellings i) with 5 or more people Shelter per room, and/or ii) with only one room, and/or iii) with no flooring material. Education For children 0-4 , deprivation for the education dimension is not calculated. For children aged 6-11 : i) children who have never been to school, or ii) have been to school but are not currently attending. For children 12 - 17: i) children 12-15 who have not completed primary education, or ii) children 16-17 who have not completed basic education (primary + preparatory). For children 0-4, deprivation for the Knowledge/information dimension Knowledge/ is not calculated. Information source For children 5-11: children living in households without TV, Radio or a computer in their homes. For children 12-17: children living in households without TV, Radio, computers or mobile phone.
Poverty and deprivation analysis • Child monetary poverty (using the national lower poverty line). • Analysis of child severe deprivation (for each of the 7 dimensions) by age group 0-4, 5-11, 12-17. • Multidimensional child poverty analysis (a child is considered multidimensional poor when severely deprived in at least 2 dimensions). • Special survey fielded for the study (community questionnaire, household questionnaire, child questionnaires). Sample of around 6,000 households in selected 6 slums and 4 unplanned areas in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Sohag .
KEY RESULTS
Availability of utilities and social services in slums Slums Electricity Water network Sewage network Tal El Akareb Yes Yes Yes Cairo Hekre El Sakakiny Yes Yes Yes No Azbet Abo Karn Yes Yes Alexandria Kom El Malhe Yes Yes Yes Port Said No No No Zerzaraa Sohag El Komah Yes Yes Yes Health Maternal & Private Primary Preparatory Slums Kindergarten Office/ Child Care doctor/ Pharmacy school school Health Unit Centre Clinic Tal El Akareb No No No No No No No Cairo Hekre El Sakakiny No No No No No No No Azbet Abo Karn No No No No Yes Yes Yes Kom El Malhe Alexandria No No No No Yes Yes Yes Zerzaraa Port Said No No No No No No No El Komah Sohag No No No No Yes Yes Yes
Child monetary poverty Percentage of poor households and percentage of children living in poor households (consumption below the national lower poverty line) • Poverty in slums (41.5%) is at levels similar to those found in the poorest rural areas. • In unplanned areas, poverty is also substantial (1 child in 5 are poor), slightly higher than the overall urban average. • In addition, 36% of households in slums experienced food shortage in the month preceding the survey. 21% in unplanned areas.
Summary results of the severe deprivation analysis (percentage of children severely Children 0-4 Children 5-11 Children 12-17 deprived in each single dimension) Slums Unplanned Slums Unplanned Slums Unplanned areas areas areas Health 4.3 4.5 - - - - Nutrition 32.2 26.4 8.9 10.7 8.8 5.0 Water 29.7 14.0 30.6 13.1 28.0 12.5 Sanitation 53.2 4.0 49.6 4.7 49.1 4.4 Shelter 52.8 5.0 49.2 5.4 43.6 4.5 Education - - 13.4 13.0 43.2 37.4 Knowledge source - - 6.1 2.7 2.5 0.7
Deprivation in shelter, water & sanitation • In slums, half of children suffer from severe shelter deprivation (mainly overcrowding) and do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. • Around 30% of children do not have water connection or the water supply is unreliable. • In unplanned areas, shelter and sanitation deprivation is at less than 5%. However, a share ranging between 10-15% of children is water deprived, mainly due to the discontinuity of the water supply in the dwelling.
Deprivation in health and nutrition • Severe deprivation in health is at less than 5% in both types of informal settlements (relatively high coverage of immunization and adequate care of common health problems). • However, other indicators point to widespread inadequate perinatal care in both type of settlements: one mother in five did not have any ante natal care, and 17% of births were not attended by skilled personnel. • Nutrition deprivation is at high levels in slums (32%) and unplanned areas (26%) among children under-5 (mainly due to high levels of stunting).
Deprivation in education and knowledge • Severe deprivation in education reflects not attendance of school (for compulsory education ages) and not completion of basic education (for older children). 13% of primary school age children in both slums and unplanned areas are deprived. The deprivation rate grows to 43% in slums for older children, and to 37% in unplanned areas. • Pre-primary education is at very low levels (less than 10% of children attend preschool). • Severe knowledge deprivation is relatively low, due to most of households having access to basic communication and information assets.
Multidimensional Poverty Analysis, children under-5 Slums Unplanned areas 2.5 8.3 7.4 18.7 30.9 Health 26.0 Nutrition Shelter Water Sanitation 49.0 30.6 9.3 17.3
Multidimensional Poverty Analysis, children 5-11
Multidimensional Poverty Analysis, children 12-17
Multidimensional Poverty in Slums
Key Results • Very high levels of income poverty and risk of food insecurity for children in slums (at 40%, much higher than the national average). In unplanned areas, 20% of children are monetary poor. • Multidimensional poverty is widespread : it affects more than half of children in slums. However also in unplanned areas multidimensional poverty is substantial (10% of children, translated in high number of children in absolute terms). • Monetary poverty and multidimensional poverty in slums are at levels comparable to those observed in the poorest rural areas of Egypt .
Key Results • Severe housing deprivations (shelter, sanitation and water) explain most of the gap between children living in slums and those living in unplanned areas. • High level of severe nutrition deprivation (for children under-5) and severe education deprivation (in particular for 12-17, linked with drop out) in slums and unplanned areas, with limited differences. • Low level of severe health deprivation (less than 5%), reflecting a widespread access to health service for young children. However, high numbers of mothers with inadequate perinatal care. • Moderate level of access to health and education services in informal settlements. • But what about continuity in services access and use, and also quality of these services?
Need for integrated policy interventions in informal settlements 3 policy pillars: 1. Making urban areas child-friendly by investing in infrastructure (housing, water and sanitation, environment, nurseries, schools etc.). 2. Promoting community development with child sensitive social protection policy. 3. Promoting social protection for urban poverty reduction and enhance access to quality social services for children (health, education, child protection).
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