Abstract
The chapter sets out to examine the changing trends in the provision of psychosocial and health resources for quality childhood development in Cameroon. Providing appropriate psychosocial and health resources is vitally important from birth to 11 years, as childhood ages are filled with developmental mile stones which, if not well managed, would lead to inappropriate developmental trajectories with long term negative effects through youth and adulthood. Despite the progress made under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), much work remains to move the new global agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), forward for children. Inequities in opportunities for children, ranging from education to health prevent them from reaching their developmental potential (World Bank. GINI index). (World Bank estimate, 2017). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=ZA-MA-TN-DZ-EG-NG-KE-LR-SO). Based on the above literature the main objectives of the chapter was aimed at examining (a) access to Quality and Equity Education (b) acquisition of social and personality skills by children (c) enabling psycho-social environment and (d) access to health. A cross sectional survey research design was employed. The survey method was used to collect descriptive data on parents and children’s opinions in four regions of Cameroon out of ten regions. Two Anglophone (North West and South West) and two Francophone (West and Littoral) regions were chosen for the study. Two hundred (200) parents and children were used as participants in the study. On the whole 64.15% indicated that there was improvement in the provision of psychosocial and health resources for children in Cameroon. The implication of these findings is that despite the fact that some progress has been made, Cameroon still falls below excellent standards hence, need for more improvement on the provision of services. The current progress can be leveraged to ensure that even more progress is made in the years to come. Amongst other factors, it was specifically recommended that early childhood is the most effective and cost efficient time to ensure that all children develop their full potential. The returns on investment in early child development are substantial.
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Tchombe, T.M.S. (2019). Changing Trends in the Provision of Psychosocial and Health Resources for Quality Childhood Development in Cameroon. In: Eloff, I. (eds) Handbook of Quality of Life in African Societies. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15367-0_11
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