Children Affected by HIV and AIDS

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is having a devastating impact on the well-being of children, particularly in those countries with the highest HIV prevalence rates in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and parts of Asia. The virus affects children in multiple ways; they may lose one or both parents and other family members, or become infected with the disease.

Aside from the physical and psychosocial stress associated with the onset of the disease itself and the experience of loss of loved ones, children affected by HIV/AIDS may additionally be subjected to the burden of caring for others, stigma, discrimination, exploitation, abuse, financial hardships, and are less likely to attend school. The social and economic effects of the disease means that areas with high AIDS-related mortality are less able to provide traditional family and community care, protection and basic services for its children.

Children with HIV-positive parents are at a greater risk of being orphaned, abandoned, removed by social services, placed into foster or institutional care, becoming homeless, or left to head households on their own. Orphaned children infected with the virus often have more difficulty obtaining care. Families and communities have rallied to provide kinship care to the large majority of the children who have lost their parents, however families and communities are struggling to cope, physically and financially, with the numbers of children involved. Despite international recognition of the damaging effects of institutional care and its high costs, institutional care has proliferated, often supported by external groups wanting to help. Far too little has been done in such countries to systematically strengthen and support HIV/AIDS-affected families and families caring for orphans, or to develop family-and community-based care for children without adequate family care.

Children should be cared for by their immediate and extended families wherever possible, with support services put in place to avoid abandonment. Regulated kinship, foster care, and local adoption should be developed for children without close relatives. Young people and communities should be provided with information on HIV/AIDS to avoid infection. Adequate medical treatment is needed to enable infected parents to live longer and to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child.

The literature in this section includes background information on countries and projects tackling the crises, including statistics, policy papers, implementation projects, and care options for children orphaned or infected by HIV/AIDS.

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Hope In Action: Summaries of World Vision's Strategies for HIV and AIDS Response

World Vision HIV/AIDS Hope Initiative, 2006

Summarizes World Vision’s strategies for key areas of HIV/AIDS response.

Social Protection: How important are the National Plans of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children?

Rachel Sabates-Wheeler and Lissa Pelham, 2006

This briefing paper emerges from a review of 14 national plans of action (NPA), or in the absence of a NPA, outputs from the rapid assessment analysis and action planning (RAAAP) work for orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. The purpose is to analyse the way that issues of social protection are incorporated into these plans and to highlight areas within the plans where social protection activity may be needed to achieve stated outcomes. Annex 3 summarises, country by country, the social protection content of each NPA.

Project Cycle Management: CBO Training Toolkit

Davies & Lee: AIDS and Development Consulting, 2006

A toolkit to support community based organizations in developing countries to design, manage and learn from their projects in a systematic way. It focuses on building understanding of the ‘project cycle’, and is primarily targeted for organizations working on issues related to HIV and AIDS.

Barriers and Incentives to Orphan Care in a Time of AIDS and Economic Crisis: A Cross-sectional Survey of Caregivers in Rural Zimbabwe

Brian Howard, Carl Phillips, Nelia Matinhure, Karen J Goodman, Sheryl McCurdy, and Cary Johnson, 2006

A survey of caregivers designed to assess barriers and incentives to fostering in rural Zimbabwe. Suggests that incentives for sustainable orphan care should focus on financial assistance.

Capacity Needs Assessment Report

Uganda Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development , 2006

An assessment to determine MGLSD and District Management and operational capacity needs in providing leadership, coordination, and monitoring and evaluating the national response to OVC and AB/Y in Uganda.

Faith Untapped: Why Churches can Play a Crucial Role in Tackling HIV and AIDS in Africa

Tearfund, 2006

Contains a set of forward-leaning recommendations for churches and the donor community. Also contains an analysis of the role of faith-based groups in the response, specific case studies, the potential to do more on the ground, and challenges faced by churches.

Positively Abandoned: Stigma and Discrimination against HIV-Positive Mothers and their Children in Russia

Human Rights Watch, 01 Jun 2005

Russia is home to one of the fastest-growing AIDS epidemics in the world, but the government has done little to address the problem.

HIV/AIDS and Vulnerability, Education, and Participation

Andy West and Chen Xuemei, 2005

Outlines the changing vulnerabilities of children in modern China. Underlines the problematic definition of vulnerability in child protection programmes and advocates holistic approaches that integrate child participation in decision-making.

A Costing Analysis of Community-Based Programs for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS: Results from Zambia and Rwanda

Leanne Dougherty, Steven Forsythe, William Winfrey, Kathy Buek and Minki Chatterji , 2005

A report which analyzes the costs associated with various types of interventions for orphans and vulnerable children, including institutional care, tracing and reintegration, and community-based care.

Forward-Looking Review: World Vision's Approaches to Integrating Microenterprise Development and HIV/AIDS Response

Jill Donahue, 2005

A report on several pilot projects launched by the World Vision and affiliated microfinance institutions to address the association between poverty and HIV. A description of pilot projects in Zimbabwe, Uganda, South Africa and Malawi are discussed.