Globally, about 3 million deaths a year can be traced to HIV/AIDS - uncles, aunts, grandparents and governments must carry the burden of caring for more and more orphans.
July 17th, 2009
Orphans and HIV
Introduction
HIV/AIDS is striking down African adults in the prime of their lives, leaving millions of orphans to struggle on
without parents. Globally, about 3 million deaths a year can be traced to HIV/AIDS - uncles, aunts, grandparents
and governments must carry the burden of caring for more and more orphans. These children often lose much
more than a mother or father. Orphans are often forced to care for siblings or sick relatives, meaning they must
give up school or jobs. Many face discrimination - the stigma of HIV/AIDS persists in many countries - while others
not lucky enough to find family or community support end up living on the streets, begging, stealing or trading
sex for food and money. Having lost a parent or parents to AIDS, many orphans are themselves vulnerable to HIV
infection.
HIV/AIDS is an exceptional cause of orphanhood: if one parent is infected, it is highly likely both will be infected, so
children often lose both parents to illness within a short span of time. Governments are waking up to the problem,
but much more needs to be done to help children who have lost everything to HIV/AIDS. British charity Save the
Children recently called for greater international donors to provide greater support to orphans and vulnerable
children (OVC), saying billions of dollars were needed.
See: AFRICA: Additional OVC support urged
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=5790&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=AFRICA
The Numbers
HIV/AIDS has left a terrible legacy - about 15 million children worldwide under the age of 18 have lost one or both
parents to the disease. Sub-Saharan Africa alone is currently home to about 12 million AIDS orphans. The UN
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated in a recent report that the number in sub-Saharan Africa will climb to more
than 16 million orphans and vulnerable children by 2010. In two particularly badly-affected countries, Zimbabwe
and Botswana, children orphaned by AIDS account for 77 and 76 percent of all orphans nationally. Across much of
Africa, the picture is grim. In Malawi, 550,000 children below the age of 17 have been orphaned by AIDS. UNAIDS’
2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic estimated that Zambia had about 710,000 AIDS orphans, of whom over
six percent were homeless and less than one percent were housed in orphanages. It’s estimated that by 2010 Swaziland
will have over 120,000 orphans, about one-eighth of the tiny mountain kingdom’s population of just over a
million. Most orphans in sub-Saharan Africa - about 90 percent, according to some estimates - live with extended
family, usually grandparents, meaning the very old are often forced to care for the very young.
See: MALAWI: Show us the money, says UN AIDS envoy
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6508&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=MALAWI
See: SOUTH AFRICA: HIV/AIDS Still running amok - report
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6583&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SOUTH_AFRICA
See: AFRICA: OVC are continent’s new AIDS challenge - UNICEF
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6262&SelectRegion=Africa&SelectCountry=AFRICA
See: ETHIOPIA: Nearly half of the children orphaned by HIV/AIDS
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=5365&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ETHIOPIA
The Issues
1.
Orphans robbed of parents - and much moreA child who loses one or both parents to AIDS might also be infected with HIV: Orphans often find themselves
battling the very disease that took their parents. Orphans are also at greater risk of malnourishment and stunted
growth. Young orphans, healthy or not, are often forced into adult roles long before they should be. An eldest
child who loses parents to HIV/AIDS might carry the heavy responsibility of caring for brothers and sisters. A growing
number of households across Africa, especially in southern Africa, are headed by children. Extended family
members often step in to raise orphans, but the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS crisis is collapsing even this traditional
safety net as whole communities fall prey to the illness. Even before they become orphans, children might have
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to care for parents suffering from AIDS-related illnesses. According to a UNAIDS report, after the death of one or
both parents, a Ugandan child’s chances of attending school are halved. The result can be bleak futures for badly
affected communities where one generation is cut down by AIDS and the next is left without education or skills.
See: UGANDA: Raw deal for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=5928&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=UGANDA
See: ZAMBIA: Help for child-headed homes
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6602&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZAMBIA
See: NAMIBIA: Orphans bear the brunt of WFP cash shortfall
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6578&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=NAMIBIA
See: KENYA: Better care could be taken of AIDS orphans
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6405&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=KENYA
2.
Emotional Stress and StigmaChildren with an HIV positive parent or parents are susceptible to intense emotional stress even before they are
orphaned. Children might suffer the trauma of watching a parent suffer and then die. When parents are sick with
HIV, children often suffer from neglect. After a parent’s death, orphans are sometimes stigmatised for being associated
with HIV/AIDS. Because of lingering stigmas surrounding the disease, children are sometimes denied access
to schools or health care, while also losing the support of friends. Such children are often more at risk of being
abused, exploited or discriminated against.
3.
Loss of PropertyFamily members are usually an orphan’s best allies, but in some parts of Africa it is still customary for relatives to
claim whatever land, livestock and property they like from grieving widows and their children. Orphans who lose
both parents to HIV/AIDS might then lose their entire inheritance - no matter how small it is - to avaricious uncles,
aunts or grandparents. Even if their parents left wills, their wishes often go unheeded. Namibia is one country
trying to end such a tradition through legislation. Last year, the Namibian government said it would introduce a
new inheritance bill to protect the rights of widows and children, although rights groups fear the laws will not be
properly enforced.
See: NAMIBIA: Inheritance Rights Still an Issue
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51704&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=NAMIBIA
See: BOTSWANA: AIDS Orphans Exploited
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=1477
4.
Is Help On The Way?Many African governments are finally waking up to the growing legions of HIV/AIDS orphans and the challenges
they present. South Africa recently set out to tackle the myriad problems orphans face, vowing to fast track access
to birth certificates and identity documents necessary to apply for grants. Swaziland has launched a policy to deal
with its rapidly expanding population of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The US$234.7 million National
Plan of Action (NPA) seeks to address the health and education needs of OVC and coordinate the efforts of NGOs
and government agencies with a priority of ensuring places for OVC in schools. A project in Kenya is taking a longterm
approach, stepping in to teach orphans what they should have learned from parents, including basic farming
techniques, family planning and gender equality.
See: SOUTH AFRICA: Govt adopts more focused approach to help orphans
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=5704&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SOUTH_AFRICA
See: SWAZILAND: Comprehensive OVC policy unveiled
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=5873&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SWAZILAND
See: SWAZILAND: Giving parentless children an identity
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6562&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SWAZILAND
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See: KENYA: Farm project helps AIDS orphans get food, income
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6466&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=KENYA
See: RWANDA: Locals taking AIDS orphans, widows under their wing
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6568&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=RWANDA
5.
Exploding the MythsIt might be time to rethink the status of orphans. A groundbreaking South African study found that poverty - not
whether or not a child has parents - is the key factor determining a child’s prospects. According to initial findings,
there is no significant difference between orphans and non-orphans in terms of school performance or in their
level of risk-taking behaviour. The message from this study is clear: orphaned and non-orphaned children alike are
made vulnerable by poverty.
See: SOUTH AFRICA: Research is discounting myths about orphans
source.www.irinnews.org