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The South African Child Gauge, now in its third publication year, has become a much anticipated resource for government decision-makers and civil society practitioners in the field of child policy. Aimed at monitoring and reporting on the situation of children in South Africa and progress in realising their rights, the publication spans many years and requires the collaboration and insights of all Children’s Institute researchers across the different programmes.
With the aim to hone and make the publication more accessible to users, the Children’s Institute in mid-2007 contracted external evaluators, Development Works, to conduct an assessment of the publication. The assessment specifically examined the usefulness, accessibility and credibility of the South African Child Gauge 2006, which focused on the theme of children and poverty.
Children’s Institute staff were pleased by the overwhelmingly positive feedback on the publication, captured in the following statement from the assessment report: “It was evident throughout the assessment process that the primary target audience, which included government, civil society, academia and development organizations, responded most positively to this publication.” One audience group which however could not be secured in sufficient numbers for participation in the evaluation was the news media.
Feedback from interviews with key informants from the South African Child Gauge target audience indicated that readers valued the publication for being a snap-shot of the situation of children in South Africa and the key challenges that they are facing. A respondent from civil society was recorded as saying: “It's an excellent, current overview of the primary concerns for children in South Africa”. Another element of the publication which the editorial team would like to preserve was that audience groups found that their understanding of the issues affecting children were expanded and more nuanced, as expressed by this key informant from civil society: “The publication forces you to think more laterally, it separates things for you.”
The Children’s Institute was also particularly pleased that the publication was well received by government officials at various levels, as was summarised by one government respondent: “It’s authoritative, well researched, well written and easy to understand.”
Part of the assessment included a review by two materials development specialists who found the publication on the whole to be excellently designed and laid out which, together with plain language use and many sub-headings, made highly accessible. A few suggestions on how to make the publication even more user-friendly were taken up for the 2007/2008 edition.
From the assessment it is clear that the South African Child Gauge is right on track in terms of meeting the information needs of its target audience. The real challenge for the Children’s Institute is to continue to deliver such a high calibre publication on an annual basis.
Click here for more information on the South African Child Gauge or contact the CI for feedback on the publication.
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