Cape Verde: Mixed Reviews - Cabo Verdeans Divided Over Government Performance On Child Welfare

12 December 2025
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Daniel Iberi and Eric Otu Beecham

Most citizens say resources are available in their community to help children who are abused, have a disability, or have mental or emotional problems.

Key findings

  • A majority (56%) of Cabo Verdeans say parents are "sometimes" or "always" justified in using physical force to discipline their children. Opposition to physical discipline decreased by 14 percentage points between 2017 and 2022 (from 58% to 44%).
  • Support for physical discipline rises with increasing levels of lived poverty.
  • Nearly six in 10 respondents (59%) report that the use of physical force to discipline children is common in their community.
  • More than one-third (35%) of Cabo Verdeans say child abuse and neglect are frequent problems in their community, though 62% disagree. Opinions are divided on whether out-of-school children are a common occurrence: 49% say they are, and 48% say they aren't.
  • Child abuse and school absenteeism are more likely to be reported in urban than rural areas.
  • Three-fourths of Cabo Verdeans say resources are available in their community to help abused and neglected children (74%) and children with disability (74%). About two-thirds (65%) say children and adults with mental or emotional problems can get help.
  • Poor citizens are less likely than their better-off counterparts to report that support services for vulnerable children are available in their community.
  • Nearly half (49%) of citizens say the government is doing a good job of protecting and promoting the well-being of vulnerable children, but the same share (48%) disagree.
  • Women (45%) and youth (42%) are less satisfied with the government's performance than men and older respondents.

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Cabo Verde has affirmed its commitment to protecting the welfare of children by ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its protocols against children in armed conflict and child slavery, prostitution, and pornography, as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Child Rights International Network, 2015; UNICEF, 2025). At the domestic level, the Constitution prohibits child labour and guarantees the protection of children, ensuring their physical and intellectual development (National Popular Assembly, 1992).

But according to human-rights organisations, the Cabo Verde government allocates insufficient resources to ensure that children's rights are fully realised (Bail, 2020). One in 10 children are undernourished, and the same proportion are not in primary school. Despite legal protections against child labour, 3% of children aged 10-14 are employed in the agricultural sector, where they have to work with dangerous equipment and are exposed to harmful pesticides. Others are subjected to various forms of exploitation, including commercial sexual exploitation (SOS, 2024; Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2024).

This dispatch reports on a special survey module included in the Afrobarometer Round 9 (2021/2023) questionnaire to explore Africans' attitudes and perceptions about child well being.

Overall, fewer than half of Cabo Verdeans approve of the government's performance on protecting and promoting the well-being of vulnerable children.

A majority of respondents find the use of physical force to discipline children acceptable, and most citizens say this practice is common in their community.

More than one-third of citizens report that child abuse and neglect are frequent problems in their community, while opinions are divided on whether out-of-school children are a frequent issue.

Most Cabo Verdeans say that resources are available in their community to help abused and neglected children, children with disabilities, and children and adults with mental or emotional problems. Poor citizens are less likely than their wealthy counterparts to identify available support.

Daniel Iberi Communications coordinator for East Africa

Eric Otu Beecham Eric Otu Beecham is a monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) officer at Afrobarometer.

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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