Dimensions of Governance and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Subnational Analysis

Abstract

There is broad consensus in the literature on development that effective governance is one of the keys to development. It is against this background of the relationship between good governance and socioeconomic development that the African Union (AU), following its establishment in 2000, indicated good governance in its constitutive act as part of its policy framework for member states in line with the tenets of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). The present study examined the relationship between good governance and less child deprivation using pooled data from Afrobarometer surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in sub-Saharan countries since 2000. The study examined the relationship between such dimensions of governance as democracy, voting, effectiveness and transparency as measured by trust and corruption as well as measures of child outcomes such as availability of toilet facilities, vaccinations, nutrition and mortality. The study found that the relationship between regional governance and children’s well-being was weak and inconsistent. It indicated that although a deepening of democracy might lead to improvements in the long-term outcomes of nutrition and child survival, these improvements would be relatively small. Further, results suggested that, in terms of good governance, trust was not particularly helpful and that corruption was not as harmful as many would suggest.