Poverty, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and food insecurity are currently the biggest threat to the survival, care, protection and development of children in Lesotho. Together, they are constraining the provision of basic social services and jeopardizing the protection of children.
The care and protection of this overwhelming number of children deprived of their parent/s and without the nurturing and protective environment of their primary caregivers is a national challenge. It is also concerning that there is an absence of appropriate policy and a legislative frame work specifically addressing the rights of children to access to services and other entitlements.
The following guidelines are based on the observations and research conducted during a five-day period in Lesotho. The consultant was able to meet with Lesotho’s Director of the Department of Social Welfare, as well as visit many of the existing residential care facilities in the country.
©UNICEF
