Realising Capabilities for Street Young People in Harare, Zimbabwe: A New Approach to Social Protection

ABSTRACT

Living in social contexts characterised by poverty and inequality, street young people have limited access to healthcare, water sanitation and hygiene services; exacerbating effects of ill health, infections, lack of nutrition and substance abuse that undermine their wellbeing. In Harare, Zimbabwe, they are also excluded from Social Protection Programmes (SPPs) which potentially assist other impoverished Zimbabweans, two-thirds of whom live below the poverty line (WFP 2019. Zimbabwe Annual Country Report 2019. World Food Programme). In this paper, we propose a reassessment of SPPs, in particular the Assisted Medical Treatment Order (AMTO), identifying barriers to access, and benefits for extending access to street young people . Drawing on secondary analysis of data from Growing up on the Streets, this paper re-conceptualises Ingrid Robeyns’ (2005. “The Capability Approach: A Theoretical Survey.” Journal of Human Development 6 (1): 93–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/146498805200034266) model of capabilities and applies it to the reversal of street youth exclusion and the application of government-targeted initiatives which have failed to reach those in the most vulnerable situations. In so doing, we propose an adapted model which recognises how the capabilities of street young people are enhanced when they are integrated into SPPs. This adapted model can be replicated and applied to relevant interventions for other groups of marginalised people in across contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Capability approach
• street young people
• social protection programmes
• Accessing healthcare
• Wellbeing‌
• ‌Assisted Medical Treatment Order (AMTO)
• Zimbabwe

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Scottish Funding Council Global Challenges Research Fund 2019/2020 for funding the Growing up on the Streets Fellowship Programme which hosted Chikoko Jan–Mar 2020. We are indebted to the late Professor Ruth Freeman for introducing Robeyns’ model to us and mentoring Chikoko in Dundee.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Scottish Funding Council.

Notes on contributors

Witness Chikoko

Witness Chikoko is a social worker and academic whose research specialises in child protection and young people in street situations. In 2020, Witness was a Growing up on the Streets ECR Research Fellow at the University of Dundee, Scotland, UK, and in 2019–2021 Research Associate in the Department of Social Work, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Email: [email protected].

Lorraine van Blerk

Lorraine van Blerk is Chair of Human Geography at the University of Dundee, UK. She is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and holds an honorary professorship at the Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town. Lorraine specialises in participatory and co-produced research focusing on the impacts of inequalities and sociocultural change in the lives of children and youth, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. She is Director of Growing up on the Streets and the ECR Fellowship Programme which funded this collaboration and publication. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @LvanBlerk.

Janine Hunter

Janine Hunter has been a researcher on Growing up on the Streets since 2013, specialising in qualitative coding and analysis and coproduced impacts, including story maps. Janine was a researcher and co-investigator in the ECR Fellowship Programme. Janine is undertaking a part-time PhD on the impacts and experiences of intimate partner relationships among street youth in Ghana. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @JanineHH258.

Wayne Shand

Wayne Shand is a researcher and consultant working on issues of urban poverty and development. Wayne is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester Global Development Institute and senior associate with the Human Settlements Group of the International Institute for Environment and Development. He is a Director of Growing up on the Streets. Email: [email protected].