Many Africans experience difficulty and disrespect in accessing public services, new Afrobarometer Pan-Africa Profile shows
The latest Afrobarometer shows that many Africans find it challenging to access public services, with significant minorities reporting being treated disrespectfully by service providers.www.Afrobarometer.org) Pan-African Overview (https://apo-opa.co/3VPqabk)show.
The new report, based on data from 39 African countries, focuses on the experiences of citizens who sought services from public health facilities, public schools, government agencies providing identity documents and/or the police in the 12 months preceding the survey.
Most reported difficulty obtaining identification documents, police assistance or medical care. More than a third said they were treated with a lack of respect by government agencies and public hospitals or clinics.
Young people and poor citizens are particularly likely to report difficulty accessing services and being treated with disrespect.
Data analysis also shows that a lack of respect from public service providers is associated with negative perceptions of government and democracy itself.
Main findings
- On average, across 39 countries, a significant share of adults say they have had contact with public health care providers (58%), public schools (34%) and/or government agencies that provide identification documents such as birth certificates Have had contact, driving license, passport or permit (33%). More than four in 10 (45%) said they had requested police assistance, encountered police in other situations, or both.
- Of those who reported contact with these public service providers:
- Nearly half said they found it “difficult” or “very difficult” to obtain ID (49%), police assistance (46%), or medical services (45%) (Figure 1).
- More than a third said they received little or no respect from ID authorities (39%) and medical staff (36%) (Figure 2).
- A similar proportion (34%) said their country’s police rarely or never “act in a professional manner and respect the rights of all citizens.”
- Young people and poor citizens are particularly likely to report difficulty accessing services and disrespectful treatment by service providers (Figure 3).
- Respondents who feel disrespected by public service providers are more likely to distrust and disapprove of their elected leaders, more likely to be dissatisfied with the way democracy works in their country, and less likely to support democratic forms of government (Figure 4).
Afrobarometer survey
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey and research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and assessments of democracy, governance and quality of life. Since 1999, nine survey rounds have been completed in as many as 42 countries. The 9th round of the survey (2021/2023) covers 39 countries.
Afrobarometer’s country partners conduct face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice and produce country-level results with a margin of error of +/-2 to +/-3 percentage points and a confidence level of 95%.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afrobarometer.
For more information please contact:
Daniel Ibery
Afrobarometer East Africa Communications Officer
e-mail: diberi@afrobarometer.org
Phone: +25 472 567 4457
Social media:
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Youtube
Instagram
WhatsApp
Visit us online: www.Afrobarometer.org.
Follow us on #VoicesAfrica.
