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There is little knowledge about the psychosocial distress of children affected by human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in Ghana, to aid the planning of services. This study investigated mental health problems among children affected by HIV/AIDS, compared with control groups of children orphaned by other causes, and non-orphans.The study employed a cross-sectional survey that interviewed 291 children and their caregivers. Both children and caregivers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire that measured children's psychosocial…
This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Comittee's recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.
One of the devastating social problems associated with HIV/AIDS is the increasing number of children who are orphaned within relatively short periods of time. The increasing number of orphans resulting from AIDS calls for a review of the support and care systems available for them. This article addresses fostering as a traditional care and support system for orphans in Ghana, especially those whose parents have died of AIDS. Strengthening of, and support for, foster care through governmental and community efforts is advocated. The enormous nature of the burden of care and support for such…
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…
We examine the impact of orphanhood on children’s school enrollment in 10 Sub-Saharan African countries. Although poorer children in Africa are less likely to attend school, the lower enrollment of orphans is not accounted for solely by their poverty. We find orphans are less likely to be enrolled than are non-orphans with whom they live. Consistent with Hamilton’s Rule, the theory that the closeness of biological ties governs altruistic behavior, outcomes for orphans depend on the relatedness of orphans to their household heads. The lower enrollment of orphans is largely explained caregivers…
Existing scientific literature reveals that fostering is common in Africa, especially West Africa. However, little research has focused on the relationship between fostering and schooling.
By their nature, school statistics make it possible neither to study the factors influencing family schooling practices, nor to shed light on the relationship between family structures and school attendance. Aside from the pupils' age and sex, they provide no information on the children's individual and family characteristics, place of birth, family status; on the age, marital status, ethnicity, religion…