This paper presents findings from a study commissioned by the Inter Agency Task Team on Children affected by HIV and AIDS. The study identifies practical ways in which child protection and HIV sectors can combine their comparative expertise, to strengthen child protection systems that meet the needs of all children at risk of abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect, whilst also meeting the unique needs of HIV-affected and infected children, and those at increased risk of HIV infection and protection abuses. The paper presents findings from a global literature search and key informant interviews with leading actors in the child protection and children and HIV sectors. The findings indicate that violations of child protection negatively impact HIV outcomes and that HIV and AIDS affect child protection outcomes in many different settings. This, say the authors, justifies the need for specific HIV and child protection interventions to be integrated into one another's responses. The literature review and key informant interviews provide ample evidence highlighting the increased vulnerabilities of HIV-affected children to child protection violations, and also indicate where the child protection system needs to be strengthened to better prevent and respond to those vulnerabilities.
Among the findings particularly relevant to children's care are indications that children who are orphaned due to HIV or AIDS face an increased risk of physical and emotional abuse as compared with other children in sub-Saharan Africa, including other orphans;caregivers of AIDS-orphaned children also have higher rates of depression than other caregivers in sub- Saharan Africa; children who are orphaned due to AIDS have higher rates of transactional sex or increased (unsafe) sexual activity and/or sexual abuse; andchildren living in all forms of alternative care may experience greater protection risks because of exclusion from information or lack of access to such things as sexual reproductive health services. The paper reports many other findings regarding the protection and vulnerability of children affected by HIV/AIDS as well as recommendations to national-level actors working in both the child protection and HIV/AIDS fields, as well as global-level actors.
©Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Children and HIV and AIDS, UNICEF, World Vision