Family And Community Interventions For Children Affected By Aids

This report forms part of a project funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to implement a strategy for the care of orphans and vulnerable children in Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe with a review of the available scientific information on interventions aimed at children, families, households, and communities.

An insightful study on children orphaned as a result of the AIDS epidemic with a Foreword by Desmond Tutu.

This innovative book argues that new insights on education and psychosocial aspects surface when research in the realm of HIV & AIDS is viewed through a positive psychology lens.

Protecting Childhood in the AIDS Pandemic provides lessons from experts around the world on how to transform the outcomes of children affected by HIV/AIDS. It examines which public policies and programs best meet the full range of children's needs, from medical care to social support and from infancy to adolescence.

In collaboration with several partner organizations, the project currently focuses on how children, families and communities in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe are coping with the impact of HIV/AIDS. The aim of the project is to develop models of best practise so as to enhance and improve support structures for OVC in the southern African region as a whole.

And main recommendations. -- Methods. -- Background: HIV/AIDS and access to education - Surveys of AIDS-affected children's school performance - Human rights - Note on Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda. -- Findings from Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda: Children as caregivers in the home - Children left on their own - Emotional burdens and AIDS-related stigma - Schools ill-equipped - Abuse and discrimination within extended and foster families - Girls' exposure to secual violence and exploitation - Abuses against parents and guardians that in turn harm children - Child-headed households - Orphaned and living with HIV/AIDS - Lack of support to community-based organizations. -- National and international responses. -- Conclusion. -- Detailed recommendations: To national, provincial, and local governments in Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda - To international agencies and donors to HIV/AIDS programs operating in Kenya, South, Africa, and Uganda, including the World Bank, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the United Nations, and bilateral donors - To the above mentioned governments and donors. -- Acknowledgements. -- Appendix: Human Rights Watch's work on HIV/AIDS and children's rights.

Much has happened since the first appearance of AIDS in 1981: it has been identified, studied, and occasionally denied. The virus has shifted host populations and spread globally. Medicine, the social sciences, and world governments have joined forces to combat and prevent the disease. And South Africa has emerged as ground zero for the pandemic. The editors of HIV/AIDS in South Africa 25 Years On present the South African crisis as a template for addressing the myriad issues surrounding the epidemic worldwide, as the book brings together a widely scattered body of literature, analyzes psychosocial and sexual aspects contributing to HIV transmission and prevention, and delves into complex intersections of race, gender, class, and politics. Including largely overlooked populations and issues (e.g., prisoners, persons with disabilities, stigma), as well as challenges shaping future research and policy, the contributors approach their topics with rare depth, meticulous research, carefully drawn conclusions, and profound compassion. Among the topics covered: The relationship between HIV and poverty, starting from the question, "Which is the determinant and which is the consequence?" Epidemiology of HIV among women and men: concepts of femininity and masculinity, and gender inequities as they affect HIV risk; gender-specific prevention and intervention strategies. The impact of AIDS on infants and young children: risk and protective factors; care of children by HIV-positive mothers; HIV-infected children. Current prevention and treatment projects, including local-level responses, community-based work, and VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) programs. New directions: promoting circumcision, vaccine trials, "positive prevention." South Africa’s history of AIDS denialism. The urgent lessons in this book apply both globally and locally, making HIV/AIDS in South Africa 25 Years On uniquely instructive and useful for professionals working in HIV/AIDS and global public health.

There is widespread recognition of the urgency of addressing the problem of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) within the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (Hunter & Williamson 2000; Smart 2000; UNAIDS, UNICEF & USAID 2002). Many countries in the region, including South Africa, in collaboration with development agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), have outlined policy guidelines and identified models of intervention (Family Health International 2001; Kalemba 1998; Loening-Vosey & Wilson 2001; Schneider & Russell 2000; UNAIDS 2002; UNICEF 1999; USAID & the Synergy Project 2001; Wilson, Giese, Meintjies, Croke & Chamberlain 2002). As a result, a considerable number of programmes targeting OVC have been implemented in the past few years. However, there are very few which have been independently evaluated in order to establish sustainable best practice models, which can confidently be recommended for replication and scaling up to meet the rapidly growing need with regard to OVC.