Child Vulnerability and AIDS: Case Studies from Southern Africa EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Among the many devastating consequences of the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, the rapidly growing orphan population demands particular attention. Today, over 15 million children in the region have been orphaned by AIDS and numbers are rising rapidly (UNAIDS, 2006). Millions more are living with chronically ill parents, and about three million children are themselves infected with the virus. Orphans are children who have lost one or both of their parents, and who are therefore deprived of the material, social and psychological support of one or more of their primary caregivers. There are also many children who, though not orphans, are becoming vulnerable as a direct or indirect result of HIV and AIDS. When parents fall sick, particularly in poor families, children come under intense stress that may continue in different forms for the rest of their lives. They may be taken out of school to farm land or to raise income elsewhere. They may also become caregivers themselves or even heads of households. In many cases, such children become increasingly vulnerable to malnutrition, ill-health, abuse and exploitation. There are psychosocial effects – under-researched but potentially very damaging – encompassing these stresses, both in the short and long term. Against the backdrop of our limited but growing knowledge of such multifaceted vulnerability, and with support from the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and partners undertook several case studies in southern Africa in 2004–2005. The case studies aimed at further elucidating child vulnerability in the context of AIDS in the hardest hit region, and the implications of such vulnerability and impacts for policy and programming. Three country-leve