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This Road Map is aimed at accelerating “the reduction of maternal, newborn and child mortality rates sufficiently in order to enable Zambia attain the set MDGs by 2015.” The Road Map emphasizes “equitable coverage of priority maternal, newborn, and child health interventions along the continuum of care within the five phases of the lifecycle: (a) the pre-pregnancy and adolescent reproductive health needs, (b) care and well-being during pregnancy, (c) the phase of child birth, (d) postnatal phase and its special needs, (e) the needs of the newborn period, as well as (f) the childhood phase.”…
This report, prepared for UNICEF East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) assesses the capacity in Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia to manage alternative care systems for children.
In general, it is difficult to obtain information on alternative care in the assessed countries. There is limited to no systematic, central data collection or collation on children living in informal or formal alternative care situations. Without systematic data, it's difficult to discern trends, and many observations rely on interviews and anecdotal evidence. The information gathered is not…
This short article highlights the growing problems associated with orphanages in Zambia. It documents how the plight of vulnerable children can be exploited to achieve financial gains, and implicates this mechanism in a nationwide trend of orphanage proliferation.
Intensive international donor support for orphans and vulnerable children adds a perverse monetary incentive to the provision of child care. Individuals running orphanages often lack the means to manage and provide adequate care and support for the children. Children living in orphanages may be forced to live in…
International agencies are increasingly recognizing the role of religious organizations in establishing effective HIV/AIDS interventions. Despite some negative perceptions of their role and impact, faith-based organizations (FBOs) are among the most viable institutions at both local and national levels and have developed experience in addressing the multidimensional impact of AIDS and its particular impact on children.
Religious organizations are prevalent throughout Africa. In the six countries chosen for this Study, the number of local congregations is estimated to be in excess of 150,…
This study, carried out by Jill Donahue and Louis Mwewa and guided and supported by a multi-agency steering committee, documents visits to 30 communities in Malawi and Zambia, where the initial mobilization and capacity building work was done as long as ten years ago. A key aim was to find out what (if anything) these communities are still doing for children and why these efforts have continued.
The findings are encouraging and have specific implications for current programming across a range of contexts where action is needed for vulnerable children. The study found that…
This short paper shows that Community Care Coalitions can serve as effective local mechanisms for providing community-led care and support while minimizing the risks of dependency. It argues, in the context of programming in Gwembe District, Zambia, that they provide a powerful platform for a self-sustained, community-wide response to HIV and AIDS prevention, care and advocacy.
©World Vision International
In many communities, the extended family system and other traditional safety nets responsible for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) are being severely strained by the multiple, mutually reinforcing impacts of HIV and AIDS. Building on proven strategies, World Vision continues to seek cost effective ways to help communities provide care for the unprecedented number of children and families made vulnerable by the pandemic. Through the Models of Learning programme, World Vision has developed a strategy that interlinks three core programming models to address the needs of children and others…
The devastating consequences of HIV/AIDS on African societies, and its particular impact on children, is requiring every organisation involved in fighting the epidemic to find new strategies to address adequately both the scale of the problem and its duration. The crisis of children left behind by AIDS is a humanitarian, development and human rights challenge of unprecedented proportions.
Although there have been substantial gains in improving overall child survival, these gains are being eroded in African countries hardest hit by the epidemic. The scale of the epidemic on this…
As the HIV/AIDS epidemic strikes at the heart of family and community support structures, large numbers of older people are assuming responsibility for bringing up orphans and vulnerable children. Family structures are changing. Often the middle generation – both men and women – is completely absent, leaving the old and young to support each other.
This means that families of older carers and orphans and vulnerable children are compelled to take on new roles. Older people make up a significant proportion of the poorest, and HIV/AIDS exacerbates the extreme poverty faced by older-…