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While the causes and effects of begging are well known, solutions on how to eradicate begging are still elusive in many parts of the developing world. The purpose of this study is to examine the different ways through which community leaders at the local level can contribute to the eradication of begging in one of Ghana’s most densely populated suburbs in the city of Accra.

This study was undertaken using the qualitative approach, and primary data was collected through interviews, participants observation and focus group discussions with beggars, community leaders and officials of non-governmental organisations at Nima, a suburb of Accra.

Begging in the suburb of Nima is increasingly becoming a business venture. It is no more an activity that is the preserve of only the weak, the poor, the elderly, the physically challenged, the needy and the marginalised in society. This paper argues that the eradication of begging requires multiple approaches and that community-based leaders must play a central role. This paper identified the provision of alternative sources of livelihood, the naming, shaming and condemnation of unjustified begging in the community, strict boarder control, returning foreign beggars to their home countries, the formulation and enforcement of community anti-begging by-laws and regular sensitisation programs on begging as crucial in reducing or eliminating begging.

While focusing on one Muslim-dominated suburb in Accra ensures a detailed discussion of strategies of eliminating begging from a cultural and religious perspective, the findings of this study may not be applicable to non-Islamic settings and communities where cultural or religious leadership structures do not exist.

This study has demonstrated that the eradication of begging in society cannot have one-size-fit all solution. This paper shows that in societies where cultural and religious leadership structures exist, they must play important roles in the design and implementation of strategies that seek to reduce or eliminate religious begging in society. This implies that formal government agencies and their associated laws alone will not be enough to eradicate or reduce begging under such contexts.

Measures to eradicate begging have often ignored the role of community leaders. This paper contributes to our understanding on this by specifically examining the phenomenon of begging at the micro level and exploring the different ways community leaders can contribute to the eradication of begging in society.

During the last two decennia ‘disability’ increasingly has been considered by various academic disciplines like sociology, literature, social sciences, geography and history as a fresh and innovative analytical category with the transformative potential of race, gender, class and sexuality. At the heart of this development is a comprehensive transformation of what is understood by ‘disability’. Traditionally, ‘disability’ was considered to be nothing more than an objective and invariable part of the human body. Nowadays ‘disability’ is primarily presented as the contingent result of the complex and manifold interactions between an individual’s body and its surrounding multilayered reality. This new meaning of ‘disability’ especially has been put forward by what has come to be known as Disability Studies.

Few of the world’s social ills arouse such unified opposition as child labor. When we learn that children are sewing soccer balls instead of studying, we are appalled. We shudder when we learn that children are sold into indentured servitude to knot rugs for 10-to-14 hour days in poorly lit workshops. International media attention is sparked when sweatshops are exposed that use children to make clothing for The Gap or shoes for Nike. In general, our understanding of this social problem has been clouded by moral outrage and the consequent clandestine nature of child labor. This partly explains the dearth of effective strategies to end child labor. While there is increasing support to end child labor, there is no consensus on how or where to focus our resources. This research provides a window on what child labor means for children and their households so that we may better understand some alternatives to it.

The purpose of this paper is to show how Nigeria's current Universal Basic Education on primary schooling targets Muslim Almajiri street boys for basic literacy acquisition. The paper examines the policy's management implementation practices and challenges, as well as provides policy options that may minimize discrepancies for effective management.

The discussion is guided by preliminary qualitative studies using phenomenology research philosophy to better understand the social realities of the boys' schooling. Using a descriptive case study approach, two schools in a major city of northern Nigeria served as research sites. Data collection process involved informal interviews, active observations, and discussions with a purpose with four boys, and two teachers as primary participants. Data analysis engaged the generation of themes from the transcribed interview and personal observation field notes, with major ones as challenges and policy options of the program implementation.

Major findings include the boys' adoption to the free lunch feeding policy as motivation to partial school attendance. Management shortcomings of the synergy include ineffective communication and collaboration, poor instructional supervision and cultural insensitivity to boys' school retention. Remedies to the shortcomings are reviewed as policy options in the article.

The paper concludes that effective management strategies as communication and collaboration with community stakeholders, frequencies of instructional supervision are vital to schooling inclusion of the boys in primary schools. The article provides workable data for future modification of the policy.

So far, no program assessment on this schooling synergy has been investigated. This article attempts to bridge the gap between ground level realities and policy implementation methodologies of the government on the schooling of Almajiris.

Special education and related services began in Nigeria, the most populous nation of Black people in the world, only a couple of decades ago courtesy of the efforts of missionaries from Europe and America. Although the government took over the responsibility of providing special education and related services to individuals in the late 1970s, evidence indicates that the provision of these services is beset by numerous formidable obstacles such as the absence of supporting laws, inadequacies in funding of services, inclusion programs, early identification and intervention services, personnel training programs, facilities, and educational materials. This chapter discusses these issues and focuses on current ways to improve the provision of meaningful special education and related services for people with disabilities in Nigeria.

Against the backdrop of falling standards and failing government policies in the education sector in Nigeria, this paper aimed to investigate how and why non-state actors can make a significant impact on the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals for universal basic education (UBE).

This study draws from semi-structured interviews of 15 heads and proprietors – six state-funded schools, six faith schools and three other privately owned schools – to examine and compare the different motivations, guiding principles and overall impact of these actors in the education sector.

Religious actors, along with private providers, are making a significant contribution to the provision of basic education in Nigeria. Students from faith schools tend to perform better academically and they also tend to be more disciplined and resourceful. However, because these schools are fee-paying, fewer households are able to access them.

The findings highlight the need to facilitate better cooperation and knowledge transfer activities between public, private and faith schools. It also emphasises the need for better government commitment and investment in provision of resources and facilities, effort in regulating the curriculum and regular inspection and quality monitoring of public schools.

The study highlights, on the one hand, the superior capacity of non-state actors – especially religious actors – to deploy their vast social capital towards the mobilisation of funds and human resources. On the other hand, while they have made inroads in their share of total national school enrolment, non-state actors have not made significant impact on access to quality education, owing to high fees and entry barriers faced by poorer households.

In a paper entitled ‘On reaching the poor’, Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder and the managing director of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh (GBB), reasoned that

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the relationship that exists between land use activities and street begging in Ibadan municipality, Nigeria, following the observed influence of urban land use activities on begging incidence.

Primary data were obtained through the method of direct enumeration of beggars and cursory observation of the physical and environmental compositions of the identified beggars’ locations in the study area.

The results showed that begging is a function of urban land use activities and it also conforms to the concentric, sector and multiple nuclei models of urban land use.

Studies are still less noticeable on the spatial implications of begging in Nigerian urban centres. In view of this, it is very much suggested that more studies be carried out on issues relating to begging, particularly, on the spatial implications of begging in other municipalities for effective comparative analysis.

The study fills a gap in the literature as there is limited research on street begging in relation to spatial dimension.