Polygyny and family planning programs in sub-Saharan Africa: representation and reality

1. Significance/background Polygyny is rarely, if ever, included in family planning (FP) messaging in Sub-Saharan Africa, even though the region has the world’s highest rates of polygyny. In West Africa a majority of women will spend some portion of their married life in a polygynous union as a co-wife. Research on polygyny has tended to focus on the influence of polygyny on outcomes such as fertility preferences and rates and contraceptive use, and there is little consensus as to the direction of these relationships. The role played by polygyny in the design and consumption of FP programs has been ignored. For example, the study of spousal communication about FP has been limited to monogamous couples and there is no model for spousal communication within polygynous marriages. This paper will focus on the ways in which – if at all – polygyny is represented by, or addressed in, family planning programs in sub-Saharan Africa. It assesses the presence (or absence) of polygyny in FP messaging and research and argues that polygynous unions are sufficiently different from monogamous unions to warrant audience segmentation in FP programs in areas with high levels of polygyny. 2. Main question/hypothesis This paper aims to assess the place of polygyny in FP messaging in sub-Saharan Africa, and whether a case should be made for segmentation by marriage type (polygynous/monogamous) in FP communication. It sets out three research questions in order to address this aim: i. Do the FP experiences of men and women differ significantly between monogamous and polygynous marriages? ii. How is polygyny represented in FP messaging? iii. What might be the consequences of excluding polygyny from FP program design and implementation? 3. Methodology This paper uses mixed methods including: i. Systematic mapping of the research relating to polygyny and FP in sub-Saharan Africa ii. Review FP visual communication materials (e.g.: JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs Media/Materials Clearinghouse) for evidence pertaining to polygyny in family planning messaging iii. Secondary quantitative analyses of DHS data Our mapping of current literature reveals little consensus on the relationship between polygyny and fertility. While many studies conclude that individual fertility is lower for polygynous than for monogamous women (although polygyny increases fertility at the aggregate level because fewer women remain unmarried) others report that polygynous women have higher fertility than their monogamous counterparts. Polygyny increases individual male fertility. Our analyses of polygyny and its effects on fertility intentions and behaviors, contraceptive use, and husband-wife communication regarding FP consider whether men and women in polygynous unions face situations different from their monogamous counterparts. By comparing results on FP perceptions, intentions and behaviors of polygynous men and women this those in monogamous marriages, we demonstrate how using conventional models of couples’ analysis (i.e. studying monogamous couples) is inappropriate for researching polygynous unions, which should therefore be specifically segmented and targeted in FP messaging. 4. Results/key findings Polygyny is rarely, if ever, included in FP messaging in Sub-Saharan Africa, even in areas with high rates of polygyny. Polygynous marriages differ from monogamous marriages in a number of crucial ways (greater age difference between polygynous spouses, decreased decision-making power for wives, higher fertility preferences for men, competition for a husband’s resources, and lower spousal communication about FP) that have major implications for FP programs. Polygynous marriages may result in higher fertility preferences for women, longer periods of breast-feeding and post-partum abstinence, and decreased likelihood of contraceptive use and increased likelihood that, if used, it would be clandestinely. While formally recognized polygyny is declining, it is often replaced by unofficial forms of polygynous unions (“private polygyny”). Polygyny may be increasingly replaced by private polygyny because polygyny is now often considered less acceptable or is illegal. Many seemingly monogamous marriages are actually adapted forms of polygyny, with unofficial outside wives. Lastly, polygyny seems to have a strong effect on men’s desired number of children, which are considerably greater than those of both polygynous women and monogamous men or women. Desired high fertility is often given as a reason for marrying polygynously. The implication for this kind of marriage decision on family size and for FP programs is significant. 5. Knowledge Using conventional models of couples’ analysis (i.e. studying monogamous couples) may be inappropriate for researching polygynous unions. Polygyny is often disregarded or misrepresented in research, even when studies are carried out in areas with high rates of polygyny. Men and women in polygynous unions have markedly different experiences than do their monogamous counterparts. Ignoring the reality of polygyny in FP communication has implications for the effectiveness of family planning campaigns in parts of Africa with high rates of official and/or unofficial polygyny. We conclude with suggestions of ways that polygyny might be included in FP messaging in Sub-Saharan Africa

Financing For Life Long Education:For Real GDP Growth In Jamaica

In order for Jamaica to transition from a Developing Country to a Developed Country it will be highly necessary to create a Knowledge based society, the inability to seriously overcome this challenge will mean Jamaica will be in transition to a developed country for an infinite number of years. A lifelong learning framework encompasses learning throughout the lifecycle, from early childhood through retirement. It encompasses formal learning (schools, training institutions, universities); non- formal learning (structured on-the job training); and informal learning (skills learned from family members or people in the community). It allows people to access learning opportunities, as they need them rather than because they have reached a certain age. Lifelong learning in Jamaica is an important policy topic for government. This assumption is based on the impact of additional training on economic growth and on income distribution, particularly in an age when previously acquired knowledge is depreciating faster than before.Government of Jamaica(GOJ), Ministry Of Education,Jamaica,Jamaica teachers association(JTA,Jamaica Union Of tertiary Students(JUTS),UWI Mona Guild Of Students,UTECH Students Union,People National Party(PNP), Jamaica Labour Party(JLP), Private Sector Of Jamaica(PSOJ),Jamaica Employers Fderation(JEF),Jamaica Chamber of Commerce(JCC),Kingston And St Andrew Corporation(KSAC), University Of The West Indies(UWI), University Of Technology(UTECH), Northern caribbean University(NCU),World Bank,Jamaica, International Monetary Fund,Jamaica, Inter-American Development Bank(IDB),Jamaica

Jamaica And The Lifelong education Paradigm

Lifelong learning is education for the knowledge economy. In order for Jamaica to transition from a Developing Country to a Developed Country whether it be a Jamaica Labour Party Administration or a Peoples National Party administration it will be highly necessary to create a Knowledge based society, the inability to seriously overcome this challenge will mean we will be in transition to a developed country for an infinite number of years.Education,Jamaica Jamaica Education,Jamaica,Jamaica

Good Corporate Governance: How Jamaica Will Enter the Global Village

Jamaica in order to effectively interface with the global village has been forced to change its ethical mindset, which has deterred the practice of good corporate governance and its worldview of how to aggressively achieve business success in an era, which does business via the Internet and other forms of wireless communication making business real-time. In Jamaica those companies who have not listened to the wisdom of those who deemed fit to make radical changes as it was deemed then have become names in the business historical archives of Jamaica as these companies no longer exist.Corporate Governance jamaica, Corporate Governance,Peter W Jones Economic Development institute, Jamaica, Jamaica Governance

Partners in Austerity: Jamaica, the United States and the International Monetary Fund

This paper looks at Jamaica's ongoing relationship with the International Monetary Fund and multilateral development banks, its recent economic performance and the impact on development of a persistently high debt burden. It finds that after 20 years of negative average annual per capita GDP growth, Jamaica continues to be plagued by high debt and low growth.Now in the third year of an IMF-backed economic program, Jamaica is running the most austere budget in the world, with a primary surplus of 7.5 percent of GDP. After two debt restructurings, both as preconditions to receiving IMF support, Jamaica still has a debt-to-GDP ratio of nearly 140 percent, and net flows from multilateral banks turned negative for two consecutive years. The paper finds that multilateral debt relief may be necessary for Jamaica to escape from its unsustainable debt burden, low-growth trap

The Laws of Jamaica, 1958

The Laws of Jamaica passed in the year 1958 Published by authorityhttps://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/jamaica/1114/thumbnail.jp

The Laws of Jamaica, 1933

The Laws of Jamaica passed in the year 1933 Published by authorityhttps://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/jamaica/1096/thumbnail.jp

The Laws of Jamaica, 1952

The Laws of Jamaica passed in the year 1952 Published by authorityhttps://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/jamaica/1108/thumbnail.jp

The Laws of Jamaica, 1932

The Laws of Jamaica passed in the year 1932 Published by authorityhttps://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/jamaica/1097/thumbnail.jp

Modernising the Framework for Arbitration in Jamaica - Some Salient Points

Comments made on the text of a working draft law for a new arbitration regime in Jamaica. I argue in my comments that Jamaica should adapt the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and use this text as the basis for its new arbitration law