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1. Background to report, orphans and vulnerable children
   Last updated: 29.06.02
1.1 Children affected by AIDS - the scale of the problem
This section is based primarily on The White Oak Report: Building international support for children affected by AIDS. Levine C & Foster G. The Orphan Project, New York, 2000 and Children on the Brink. Hunter S & Williamson J. USAID, Washington, 2000.

There is a huge and growing number of orphaned children in Africa. Estimates for 26 African countries suggest that the number of orphans from any cause will increase by around 50% between 1990 and 2010.

In 1990, AIDS accounted for 16% of parental deaths leading to orphaning; by 2010, that figure is expected to rise to 68%. In Southern Africa, the worst affected region, it is predicted that the number of double orphans (those who have lost both mother and father) will increase by a staggering 1,600% (from 0.2 to 3.4 million). By 2010, around one third of children will have lost one or both parents in the five worst affected countries in the region (Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Namibia, and South Africa) while some 20-30% of children in Central African Republic, Mozambique, Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi and Lesotho will be orphans. The combination of early infection and the long incubation period of HIV means that the proportion of orphans in these countries will remain exceptionally high throughout the first half of the 21st century.

The extent of the epidemic in Africa makes it qualitatively different from other regions. Traditionally, it used to be said "there is no such thing as an orphan in Africa". Children who lost one or both parents were incorporated into a relative's family. But the combination of increased orphan numbers, reduced numbers of caregivers and weakened extended families, combined with poverty, means that vulnerable children are more likely to fall through the extended family safety net. Rising numbers of children of all descriptions, not just orphans due to AIDS or other causes, are suffering as a result of the epidemic. Children are being affected economically, socially and psychologically. Economic and social impacts include malnutrition, reduced access to education and health care, child labour, migration and homelessness. Psychological impacts include depression, guilt, anger and fear caused by parental illness and death. The social, economic and psychological impacts of AIDS on children combine to increase their vulnerability to a range of consequences including HIV infection, lack of education, poverty, child labour, exploitation and unemployment.

1.2 Responses to increasing numbers of vulnerable children
Experience suggests that children are best cared for within families and communities. [See: Policy statement: children affected by HIV/AIDS. International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2001.]

Institutionalised care is not financially feasible for the majority of orphaned and other vulnerable children. In poor communities, increasing the number of places available in orphanages has often led to more children being placed by their families into these centres, partly because the material standards are seen as being higher than families can provide. This increases the scale of the problem and consumes resources that could be better used for strengthening family and community capacities to care for and support vulnerable children.

[Principles to guide programming for orphans and vulnerable children. UNICEF and UNAIDS, 2000.]

It is clear that extended families need to be supported as they struggle to provide for increasing numbers of children affected by AIDS. Community groups, faith-based congregations, CBOs and NGOs are the first line of support for households caring for vulnerable children. In the last decade, the response of communities to the impact of AIDS upon their children has been astounding. Across Africa, thousands of groups have recognised the plight of increasingly vulnerable children and are responding to their predicament with ingenuity. Community OVC initiatives, programmes and emerging organisations are currently hardly known outside their immediate locale. They have been little studied or documented. Few external organisations have sought to partner grassroots associations or provide them with additional resources. No networks exist to support their development. Yet these community initiatives, the primary response to increasing numbers of children affected by AIDS, are proliferating. Some initiatives have built themselves up into more established CBOs. NGOs and existing CBOs have also established activities and programmes to support OVC. Support activities offered by these groups include visiting affected households, teaching domestic skills, providing food, clothing and school fees, setting up income-generating projects, and providing spiritual, emotional and psychological support.

1.3 Background to workshop
In October 2001, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and FACT co-hosted a workshop in Mutare, Zimbabwe entitled: Expanding community-based support for orphans and vulnerable children, together with 17 intermediary NGOs that provided support to CBOs and other NGOs responding to OVC.

The aims of the workshop were to understand and document:

  • The proliferation of community OVC initiatives, their characteristics and needs


  • How participants and their partners have expanded the impact and coverage of OVC programmes


  • Experiences gained in supporting other NGOs and CBOs in OVC activities


  • Techniques and experience gained in building the capacity of other NGOs and CBOs


  • Ways in which local NGOs can make the transition into intermediary NGOs.


Selected strategic NGOs from countries in East and Southern Africa were invited to attend this participatory workshop. It was recognised that primary providers of support to OVC such as CBOs and community initiatives were not directly represented at the workshop. To remedy this, three local CBOs or community groups participated during the second day of the workshop, which was devoted to understanding community perspectives.

Source: Expanding Community-Based Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children
This is an extract from Expanding Community-Based Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children , published by the International HIV/AIDS
Alliance with the Family AIDS Caring Trust, Zimbabwe, in 2002.

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