Está en la página 1de 7

Briefing Paper

Strengthening the humanity and dignity of people in crisis through knowledge and practice

Beyond men pikin: improving understanding of


post-conflict child fostering in Sierra Leone
By Lacey Andrews Gale

April 25, 2008

Lacey Andrews Gale received her PhD


in Cultural Anthropology and Population
Studies from Brown University. She is a
researcher at the Feinstein International
Center, Tufts University and a former
research consultant with the International
Rescue Committee (IRC) Guinea, Sierra
Leone. Comments on this paper are
welcome and encouraged: lacey.gale@
tufts.edu

The Feinstein International Center


develops and promotes operational and
policy responses to protect and strengthen
the lives and livelihoods of people living
in crisis-affected and -marginalized
communities. The Center works globally in
Boy on the street, Freetown, Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
partnership with national and international
Photograph by Lacey Andrews Gale.
organizations to bring about institutional

Executive Summary changes that enhance effective policy


reform and promote best practice.

T
here is growing agreement that important in countries such as Sierra Leone This report is available online at
separated children are best cared which is recovering from a brutal civil war fic.tufts.edu
for in community settings, rather and suffering from poverty, malnutrition,
than in institutions. However, even in and limited access to adequate medical care.
a community setting, there is a need for Since the civil war ended in Sierra Leone,
standards of care that allow for monitoring child fostering—whether informal or facili-
of children’s well-being. This is particularly tated by humanitarian agencies and the gov-
ernment—has become the preferred solution
for the estimated 800,000+ orphaned,
 
Tolfree, David. 2003. Community Based abandoned, and vulnerable children.
Care for Separated Children, Stockholm,
Save the Children, Sweden. http://www.
aidsalliance.org/graphics/OVC/  
UNICEF Sierra Leone 2007. Annual Report.
documents/0000757e00.pdf http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/WCARO_

“Beyond men pikin” by Lacey Andrews Gale, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Published under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license in April 2008 
Interviews with care-givers, foster
children, humanitarian agencies, and gov-
ernment officials paint a picture of a formal
foster care system that lacks common
standards or functioning monitoring
mechanisms. These gaps in child protection
are also apparent in the kind of informal
fostering arrangements found throughout
West Africa. This study evaluates the current
state of child fostering in Sierra Leone and
poses questions for future research which is
necessary in order to improve knowledge
and develop recommendations for national
foster care standards—which could be po-
tentially replicable across West Africa.

Acknowledgements
The assessment would not have been
Foster Children in Boreah refugee camp, Guinea. Photograph by Kate Lapides.
possible without the research assistance
of Ruth Kamara and Abdurahim Barrie. I
would also like to thank Janet Nickel, the and Côte d’Ivoire. In Sierra Leone, the within the camp to strengthen social ties
coordinator of the Faith Alliance against war resulted in displacement on a massive and relieve burdens on large and poorer
Slavery and Trafficking (FAAST) for scale and altered the social fabric of the families.
providing introductions to other INGOs in country. Despite this upheaval of families The war left a large number of children
Sierra Leone working in the area of child and communities, research conducted without primary caregivers or the ability
protection, answering questions about among Sierra Leoneans in Guinean refugee to return ‘home’. A recent UNICEF report
the current state of child protection and camps revealed the continued importance estimates that of the 2.3 million children
guiding me through Freetown bureaucracy. of fostering practices even during conflict. in Sierra Leone (who make up nearly 50%
I am also grateful to Flora Hills and Tim Children were sent from refugee camps in of the total population) 11.3% are orphans
Malcomson (GOAL Ireland), Fra. Uba Guinea to kin in Sierra Leone in order to and 27% are vulnerable. Currently both
(Don Bosco Fambul), Jo de Berry (World assure proper acculturation and strengthen formal and informal fostering practices
Bank), Susan Shepler (American University, kinship ties. Fostering was also used are employed by the state and by Sierra
Washington DC), and Peter Walker Leoneans to address the needs of these
(Feinstein International Center) for their orphans and vulnerable children. While
insightful comments and suggestions. The  
Sierra Leone’s 1974 census showed that there are no reliable figures as to the current
photographs that accompany the written 29 percent of Sierra Leonean children whose number of foster children, Sierra Leoneans
text were taken by Kate Lapides (www. mothers were aged 15-19 were not living from all walks of life emphasized repeatedly
katelapides.com) as part of a documentary with their mothers. 36 percent of children in interviews that fostering touches every
project funded by the International Rescue born to mothers 20-24 years of age were family in the country. Fostering has become
Committee in 2003 that examined the also living away from home. For women aged of increasing interest to post-conflict child
process of repatriation for Sierra Leonean 25-29 and 30-34 years, the proportions of protection policy-makers as displaced and
children away increase to 40 percent and 46
families returning from camps in Guinea separated children, children who served the
percent respectively. These figures indicate
Thanks also to Tim Morris for editorial high rates of ‘out migration’ of children at
fighting forces, and those who were rejected
assistance. relatively young ages (Isiugo-Abanihe 1985: by their communities for a range of reasons
61). These figures varied greatly by region related to their involvement in the war, have
and ethnic group with the south and east found new homes with foster parents. The
I. Background of the country reporting almost double the system of child fosterage is also of increas-
rates of out-fosterage in the north. Ainsworth
Informal child fostering was widespread (1996: 25) reports that in Côte d’Ivoire in
before civil wars ripped apart the West 1985 one-fifth of non-orphaned children Livelihoods and Mobility among Sierra
African nations of Sierra Leone, Liberia, age 7-14 were living away from both natural Leonean Refugees”, Refugee Survey
parents. Comparable data is not available Quarterly, 25:2, pp 69-80.
from either the 1985 or 2004 censuses.  
UNICEF Sierra Leone 2007. Annual Report.
 
Gale, Lacey Andrews. 2006. “Sustaining http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/WCARO_
SL_Pub_AnnualRprt07.pdf: p. 10. Relationships across Borders. Gendered SL_Pub_AnnualRprt07.pdf

“Beyond men pikin” by Lacey Andrews Gale, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Published under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license in April 2008 
Monument at the entry into Koidu town, Sierra Leone. Photograph by Kate Lapides.

ing interest in parts of Africa where AIDS is II. Methods The fieldwork took place in June 2007
devastating adult populations and children under the auspices of the Faith Alliance
are forced into novel living arrangements. The three-week rapid assessment against Slavery and Trafficking (FAAST),
Despite this interest on the part of the employed ethnographic methods of data a branch of World Hope International and
state and various child protection agencies collection. These included: World Relief, whose offices are based in
in supporting ‘traditional’ child fostering Freetown. While most of the research was
practices, the Government of Sierra Leone • life-history interviews with key undertaken in Freetown, five days were
(GoSL) and humanitarian agencies lack informants spent in Makeni interviewing humanitar-
evidence about current informal child care ian workers, government officials, the local
practices and thus cannot assess how these • interviews with staff of the Ministry Family Support Unit of the Sierra Leone
practices support or threaten children’s of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Police, children, and village committees.
well being. Guidelines for care are based Affairs (MSWGCA), the Sierra Leone The following questions provided a guide
on international standards and policies of Police’s Family Support Unit, and key child- for interviews and focus groups:
individual international non-governmental focused INGOs
organizations (INGOs) policy, rather than • What is the range of residential arrange-
national guidelines or local realities. • focus groups and informal interviews ments for foster children in Sierra Leone;
with children and adults in the capital, both local and supported by international
Freetown and in Makeni, the largest city in agencies?
the Northern Province
• Do Sierra Leoneans view as accept-
 
Shepler, Susan. 2005. Transnational • participant observation at formal events able living conditions (work, play, school,
Fosterage of War-affected Children in West and in households.
Africa: Immediate Coping Capacities across
Borders UNICEF field report.  
www.faastinternational.org

“Beyond men pikin” by Lacey Andrews Gale, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Published under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license in April 2008 
nutrition, emotional) in fostering situations Sierra Leone—for informal child fostering, offenders and child victims of domestic
from the perspectives of both the care- a practice which affects every extended violence as well as monitoring proven child
givers and the child? family in the country. Men pikin primarily abusers. In interviews with the Makeni
entails a child receiving formal education representatives of the MSWGCA, FSU,
• How do these compare to standards set or an apprenticeship outside the family. and Defense for Children International (an
by Sierra Leonean law? Due to the scarcity of secondary schools in INGO providing legal representation for
villages, certain age groups of children are children in contact with the law as victims
The research findings are a mixture fostered by extended family or friends in or abusers) it appears that most cases go
of case studies that emerged from inter- towns and cities. through what is known as a “diversion”
views and participant observation with There following sections describe the process, rather than being referred to the
foster parents and foster children, official range of fostering arrangements in greater formal legal system. “Diversion” operates
documents and interviews, descriptions of detail. through customary channels of authority
current INGO programs and policies, and and often involves monetary remuneration
protection gaps identified by humanitarian Formal fostering and for crimes committed. It is not clear how
workers and government officials. Together the cases of foster children are handled in
the findings paint a preliminary portrait of monitoring mechanisms this system.
child fostering in Sierra Leone and provide There are several levels of national and There are clearer standards of child care
a starting point for further research. local government bodies involved with child in residential programs and orphanages.
A vital aspect throughout the research fostering. The MSWGCA is the official gov- Orphanages are currently of great concern
process was engagement with child protec- ernment body charged with ensuring the to the GoSL and INGOs, due to recent
tion agencies and the Government of Sierra provision of services to socially disadvan- allegations of fraudulent transnational
Leone (GoSL). A collaborative, ‘how- taged and vulnerable groups and advocat- adoptions involving orphanages as well as
can-we-make-it-better’ approach made it ing on their behalf for resources and legal the proliferation of unlicensed ‘internet
possible to establish current knowledge standards. They are also charged with the orphanages’ which recruit local children
and policies pertaining to child fostering overall supervision and monitoring of foster in order to solicit funds from international
and child trafficking. It also opened up care. Local-level child monitoring suppos- donors. The MSWGCA has a list of five
possibilities for discussing the results of the edly takes place through child welfare com- officially-licensed orphanages and are sup-
research, formulating recommendations, mittees (CWCs)—voluntary organizations posedly investigating and attempting to
and promoting collaboration and support organized by village heads and assisted by close down those not on their list. The Chief
for future projects. a social welfare officer from the MSWGCA. Social Development Officer (CSDO) of the
Also included in the CWC are traditional MSWGCA explained that orphanages in
leaders, two representatives of parents, Sierra Leone are supposed to abide by guide-
III. Formal and one male and one female representative of lines that stipulate particular standards for
children, three service providers, two NGO facilities, child/staff ratios, education, basic
Informal Foster Care representatives, and three religious leaders. standards of nutrition, health care, and
There are several types of formal and The Ministry’s mandate is to monitor, sanitation, recreation, record-keeping, and
informal systems of foster care in Sierra supervise and coordinate the activities of reintegration policies. There was no printed
Leone. Formal fostering practices are CWCs. CWCs’ responsibilities include: copy of these guidelines available and it
described in the 2007 Child Rights Act appears that many institutions follow their
and are supposed to be monitored by the • determining the suitability of a person own standards.
MSWGCA. Formal fostering arrangements to foster a child Standards for formal foster care fa-
are used for adjudicated youth (a young cilitated by the MSWGCA were also only
person found guilty of an adult crime and • monitoring all foster placements within verbally described during interviews. It
designed as a delinquent by a judge), street the village was also difficult to assess the current level
children who cannot be reunified with their of active monitoring of child care cases.
families, survivors of human trafficking, • offering advice to children, parents The MSWGCA’s Social Welfare Division
and survivors of domestic abuse. There and other community members in order is supposed to have a formal procedure
are also institutional arrangements such to promote the short- and long-term best and regular follow-up for these fostering
as orphanages and short-term residential interests of the child. arrangements. However, the only printed
programs for street children, but these are document readily available regarding
not considered to be fostering. While the CWCs are supposed to
Formal fostering is relatively rare monitor foster placements, they do not have  
In view of this concern, the Chief Social
compared with men pikin, the term used in jurisdiction over cases involving sexual Development Officer for MSWGCA’s Social
Krio—the lingua franca used throughout assault. Cases of that nature are referred Welfare Division, together with humanitarian
to the Sierra Leone Police, who maintain a organizations, initially assumed that this
Family Support Unit (FSU) at each police research project concerned standards for
 
www.sierra-leone.org/Laws/2007-7p.pdf station which works with alleged juvenile children’s well-being in orphanages

“Beyond men pikin” by Lacey Andrews Gale, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Published under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license in April 2008 
foster care was a questionnaire used by an where one or more children will be given child fostering among the Mende—one of
INGO, Don Bosco Fambul, for their foster to the woman to raise as her own. Indeed, Sierra Leone’s dominant ethnic groups—
program follow-up visits. This MSWGCA- it is often ‘special’ children who are fostered which revealed that Mende culture
approved foster care follow-up form was because they are bright, beautiful, and sanctions the less favorable treatment of
jointly developed by their Child Welfare seen as having promise for future success. fostered children. There may even be a
Secretariat and UNICEF. MSWGCA One former foster child describes how she positive value to this differential treatment,
officials stated that they have difficulty came to be sent to her aunt’s home for her for the Mende have a proverb that there is
monitoring fostering activities due to insuf- schooling. “no success without hardship”13
ficient resources. Informants described a range of factors
Don Bosco Fambul coordinates a nine- Growing up in the village with six that determine the success or failure of
month residential program in Freetown wives and plenty children, it is not too an informal fostering arrangement. The
for street children and is the only agency easy to show your love to one person. I agreement between the child’s guardian
fostering children with the agreement of the was the beloved because I was sent to and the foster parent can vary greatly, from
MSWGCA. Other agencies, such as GOAL town to go to school. It was like when the parent providing financial support
Ireland, have made fostering placements in you send one thousand with the hope and visiting to having no contact at all.
the past and would like to create fostering of receiving one million and that one The range of parents’ involvement in their
opportunities for the street children they million will be utilized on the family. child’s fostering experience and the type of
now work with now. However, they are That was my father’s hope. I strained to relationship that exists between the sending
reluctant to do so in the current unregulated achieve something.11 and receiving family greatly affects the
environment. According to the GoSL’s 2005 success of the relationship. Stranger care is
Anti-Human Trafficking Act10, the mistreat- Fostering is also seen as a way of tough- becoming more common in the post-war
ment of children in fostering situations can ening up children, of forcing them to be setting, which leads to an attenuated sense
be prosecuted as a domestic trafficking case independent and self-reliant from a young of responsibility for foster children’s well
when exploitation is proven to have taken age so that they will be able to succeed no being. There may also be a large discrep-
place. Without legal standards for foster matter what the situation. Another former ancy between what is agreed upon and what
care in place, there is no legal protection foster child describes why his father sent actually happens. A child’s gender may affect
for INGOs who engage in child fostering. him to a Quranic school before the war and his/her chances of getting an education,
Following passage of the 2007 Child Rights why he thinks that fostering is an important working in the house, or becoming a street
Act, there is the possibility of creating legal practice, despite the difficulties for the child. Whatever the pretext or arrangements
standards that will protect both foster child: made for fostering children, it became clear
children and the agencies that foster the through interviews with Sierra Leoneans
children. It is unclear, however, who will Even if the children would like to as well as INGO workers that the fostering
champion their creation and enforcement. be with their parents, the parents situation can be very difficult for the
prefer for the children to go and have children and in some cases may result in
Men pikin or informal fostering education with another people. By abuse and exploitation of the child’s labor
getting a family to foster a child, the for domestic duties, market activities, and
It is commonly said by Sierra Leoneans child will not ask some one to take commercial sex work.
that “there are no orphans in Sierra Leone.” care of him in the future. The parents The child may be educated and also
As part of extended family or other types will say: “If this child is away he might expected to perform domestic duties or
of networks many Sierra Leoneans foster learn something.” My father, he would ‘light’ child labor. This would be considered a
children who became separated from their say,” If you have your child with you, successful arrangement. In other situations,
parents or whose parents died during the you will not teach him how to struggle the child may be educated, but be abused
war. Fostering is also perceived as a way when you are not there”.12 emotionally, physically, and required to do
for families to help their children become long hours of work in potentially hazardous
educated, improve their chances for an Many foster children will say that they situations. On the far end of the spectrum,
advantageous marriage, learn a trade, and are not happy in their immediate living there are children who do not receive an
become ‘civilized’ by living in an urban situation; but that they are there to sacrifice education, who are involved in the worst
or peri-urban environment. The fear that for their family and that the suffering will forms of child labor, who are at risk of being
children may die as a result of witchcraft make them stronger and more resilient trafficked either internally or internation-
may also encourage parents to find alterna- to future challenges. These findings echo ally, and who may be sexually exploited
tive homes for their children. A fostering Caroline Bledsoe’s pre-conflict research on by a foster sibling, parent or relative. Some
arrangement may also take place between
an infertile woman and a female relative, 11 
Interview 06.13.2007, translated from
Krio by Abdurahim Barrie. Bledsoe, Caroline. 1990. “‘No Success
13 

Without Struggle’: Social Mobility and


www.sierra-leone.
10  12 
Interview 06.01.2007, translated from Hardship for Foster Children in Sierra Leone.”
org/Laws/2005-7p.pdf Krio by Abdurahim Barrie. Man, vol 25. no.1 pp. 70-88.

“Beyond men pikin” by Lacey Andrews Gale, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Published under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license in April 2008 
children end up on the streets rather than also the profound influence of INGO and visits, standards of care, and expectations
remain in a situation where they are not UN policies and practices on post-conflict for schooling?
being fed, are overworked, and not shown society. Pre-war child fostering was based
affection. Some children also end up on the upon ties of kinship and patronage—which • How do families find out if their child is
streets because they cannot repay a debt connected the sender and receiver of being mistreated?
and are told not to come back until they children into a mutually beneficial rela-
have the money to do so. tionship that offered some protection to • Are there consequences if the child is
While the extended family system children with inbuilt checks and balances of mistreated?
functions as a stop-gap for vulnerable power. However, the case studies of current
children and families without the means to fostering practices which emerge from this • What do parents do if the child is
support their children through school, the preliminary assessment reveal that conti- mistreated? What do the customary and
current economic climate in Sierra Leone nuity in children’s well-being from pre to judicial legal systems offer for parents?
makes it challenging for foster parents post-war fostering should not be assumed.
to support their own children, let alone a The shift in policy away from institutional • Who do children call upon for help and
foster child. A. Kamara works for an INGO care for orphaned and vulnerable children support when they are mistreated?
and earns roughly $70 per month, which and towards community and foster-based
is an excellent salary in a country whose is based on assumptions that pre-war and • What are the different kinds of rela-
per capita gross national income (GNI) is post-war fostering serve the same social tionships between sending and receiving
estimated at $24014 and in which over the function. It is assumed they contain the families?
half the population lives on less than $1 per same in-built protections for children
day.15 She is a single parent to her son, fosters and therefore provide a viable alternative • Is there a connection between parental
ten children, and cares for her mother and for orphaned and vulnerable children. support for their children (monetary,
sister and her sister’s three children. It is a Guidelines for care of children in foster emotional) and positive/negative outcomes
constant struggle to balance the needs of situations are based on standards enshrined of fostering?
her family and foster children. She admits in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of
that she favors some children over others: the Child (CRC)17 as well as international • What are the factors behind some
and local NGO policies, rather than based fostering relationships having positive
Now that I am a mother, I think it is on local realities or national guidelines. results? (i.e. the child finishes school, has
half-part of my heart that is put to my Assigning primacy to individual rights of enough to eat and decent living conditions,
child and that relationship. That part children in a social context where children’s and is resilient to adverse circumstances)
of your heart is in your child will be primary responsibilities are to support the
different with the other [foster children] welfare of the family—often at significant • What are the factors behind some
even though you will love them. Though personal cost—may have unintended fostering relationships resulting in abuse
you will care for them that deep love is consequences that jeopardize children’s and neglect?
always with the one you delivered. I futures. It is clear that more needs to be
am a foster parent. I know what I am understood about the relationship between • What factors erode the child’s
saying.16 local practices and international standards. well-being?
The final section outlines a series of
questions that will frame the next stage of • How does this differ/concur with
research. Should funding be obtained, we definitions set out by humanitarian and
IV. Conclusions and intend to undertake a comparative study of government organizations?
fostering practices in several rural sending
Questions communities across Sierra Leone which will • What are characteristics of resilient
An examination of child fostering be linked to a detailed analysis of the condi- children?
practices illuminates the effects of conflict tions and relationships of foster children in
on the social fabric of relationships in Sierra Freetown and two other urban sites. • What happens to children abused in
Leone. Analyzing these impacts requires fostering situations?
not only examining the fall-out from 1. What does fostering look like in
years of violence and displacement, but Sierra Leone? • What is the scale of ‘informal’ fostering
• How do Sierra Leoneans define success- in Sierra Leone?
ful fostering arrangements?
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/
14  • What is the scale of ‘formal’ and
DATASTATISTICS/Resources/GNIPC.pdf • What is discussed when a child is sent ‘informal’ foster placements which are
to another family in terms of compensation, considered ‘successful’?
  http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/
15

data_sheets/cty_ds_SLE.html
• What can be learned by comparing
16 
Interview 06.12.2007, A. Kamara. 17 
www.unicef.org/crc fostering practices in Sierra Leone with

“Beyond men pikin” by Lacey Andrews Gale, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Published under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license in April 2008 
Child of girl mother abducted by the RUF, Kono, Sierra Leone. Photography by Kate Lapides.

kinship-based care practices in other the Inter-Agency Guiding Principles on levels particularly in light of the current
countries? Unaccompanied and Separated Children19, decentralization campaign?
and other relevant international laws and
2. Is it possible to create child principles? • Should there be different standards in
well-being standards which reflect rural and urban areas?
the capacity and priorities of parents • How can intangibles such as emotional
in Sierra Leone and also protect the support be incorporated into well-being
child? standards?
Learn more about this and other

• Do national standards reach the average • Would setting ‘legal’ standards also Feinstein International Center
parent? reduce the incidence of ‘informal fostering’ research online at fic.tufts.edu
and therefore also its potential or perceived
• Do child well-being standards address benefits for families? Sign up for the Center’s
the root causes of child abuse and neglect? announcement list: https://elist.
3. What mechanisms would need
tufts.edu/wws/info/feinsteincenter
• Would codified child fostering standards to be put into place at various levels
increase children’s well-being in fostering (state, region, community, traditional
situations? leaders) in order for these standards And view and share photography
to be effective? by the Center’s faculty and staff:
• How could standards be used as a tool to http://www.flickr.com/photos/
educate Sierra Leoneans about the potential • What are the strengths and weaknesses feinsteincenter/
dangers of child fostering? of current monitoring mechanisms?

• Would child care standards articulate • Who are the appropriate government Feinstein International Center
with the guidelines set out in the Child officials and traditional leaders to involve 200 Boston Avenue, Suite 4800
Rights Act, the CRC, the African Charter both at the state, regional level, and local Medford, Massachusetts 02155 USA
on the Rights and Welfare of the Child,18 (617) 627-3423

www.unhcr.ch/include/
19 

18 
www1.umn.edu/humanrts/africa/ fckeditor/custom/File/Protection/
afchild.htm IAPUnaccompaniedChildren_e.pdf

“Beyond men pikin” by Lacey Andrews Gale, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Published under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license in April 2008 

También podría gustarte