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Please click here for recent action alerts, news, and reports related to orphans and vulnerable children.

Did you know?

HIV/AIDS is having a staggering impact on children.  Worldwide, over 15 million children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS—a number that is expected to reach 20 million by 2010.  In sub-Saharan Africa, 12 million children—80% of the global total—have been orphaned by AIDS, and millions more live in households where an adult is sick.

© Lois Craig

Studies have found that orphans are more likely to be stunted in their growth and less likely to attend school than children living with both parents. Poor nutrition and limited access to health services put orphans at increased risk of starvation, illness, and death.  And without nurturing from a loving parent or guardian, children's emotional development is often diminished, too.

Many AIDS orphans are themselves infected with HIV, and worldwide at least 2.3 million children under the age of 15 are living with HIV/AIDS.  Another 1,800 children are newly infected with HIV each day—most through mother-to-child transmission of the virus.  Worldwide, over 510,000 children die of AIDS each year, and in some countries the epidemic accounts for as many as half of all deaths among children under five. 

All told, children under the age of 15 account for one in six (17%) AIDS-related deaths worldwide and one in seven (14%) new HIV infections. But only 4% of the roughly 1.3 million people now on treatment are children.  And fewer than 10% of HIV-positive pregnant women are receiving antiretroviral medications that can virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission of the virus.  Antiretrovirals formulated to treat children with AIDS can cost five times as much as adult formulations, and pediatric doses are not widely available.  In addition, the expensive and complicated tests required to diagnose pediatric HIV mean that half of HIV-infected children die undiagnosed before their second birthday. 

HIV/AIDS is exacerbating the desperate situation of children worldwide.  As the epidemic kills more and more adults, the traditional safety net for orphans and other vulnerable children—the extended family—is stretched to the breaking point.  Fewer resources are available for basic health, education, and nutrition services.  In households where adults are living with AIDS, older children are often responsible for supporting their families and providing care.  Children living in child-headed households, on the street, or with families who regard them as an unwanted burden are particularly vulnerable to neglect, abuse, and exploitation. And those subjected to abuse or exploitation are at increased risk of HIV infection.  Children of all ages struggle with the pain of losing a parent and the stigma of living in a family touched by HIV/AIDS.  Even children who are spared a family bereavement often lose their teachers, doctors, neighbors, and other adult role models to HIV/AIDS. 

Despite their vulnerability, children have been largely overlooked in the response to HIV.  According to UNICEF, less than 10% of children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS receive any public support or services.  And just one in seven of the estimated 780,000 children in urgent need of antiretroviral therapy are receiving treatment. 

What needs to be done?

The critical first step in slowing the pediatric AIDS epidemic is to prevent HIV transmission from pregnant mothers to their babies, and governments, multilateral agencies, service delivery organizations, and pharmaceutical companies must do more to scale up prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs. In addition, while there has been important progress in expanding the number of pediatric treatments, there remains a lack of diagnostic tools for infants younger than 18 months.

Orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), including children with HIV/AIDS, need comprehensive care and support.  This includes access to education, health care, shelter, food and nutrition, and psychosocial support. Orphans and vulnerable children also need special protection against abuse, violence, exploitation, discrimination, trafficking, and loss of inheritance.  Providing treatment and care to parents with HIV/AIDS will help keep families intact as long as possible, and, of course, children with HIV must receive treatment. 

In addition, families and local communities need help so they can raise orphans and vulnerable children in a supportive non-institutional environment.  Indeed, many experts believe that strengthening community-based efforts is the only hope for building effective, sustainable support systems for orphans and other vulnerable children.

Finally, all children must have access to a free, quality basic education, and all children must be protected against violence that threatens their physical and emotional well-being and increases their risk of HIV infection.

Here are just a few examples of programs that are making a difference:

• In Rwanda, a community-based project provides livestock and other income-generation assistance to AIDS orphans, and trains nkundabanas, adults in the community who can mentor and support orphaned children.
• In Zambia's Eastern Province, local nonprofits successfully lobbied to exempt orphans and vulnerable children from having to pay school fees.
• In Mombasa, Kenya, a family care clinic is providing free ARV medications and other support services to children living with AIDS.
• In Turkmenistan, a life-skills training program is teaching students how HIV is transmitted and how they can protect themselves-and encouraging them to educate others.
• Across Africa, local health clinics provide children with cotrimoxazole, an inexpensive antibiotic that prevents potentially fatal infections in HIV-positive children and can also delay the onset of AIDS and the need for ARV treatment.
• In Malawai and Ghana, a pilot program is improving school safety by making curriculum reforms, training teachers and other school staff, and making important infrastructure changes such as building separate latrines for boys and girls.

Programs like these help show us the way forward.  But they must be scaled up dramatically in order to address the growing crisis of orphans and vulnerable children.

What is the Global AIDS Alliance doing?

The Global AIDS Alliance is working to mobilize the political will and financial resources needed to ensure comprehensive care and support for orphans and vulnerable children, including children affected by HIV/AIDS.  In particular, we are working to achieve the following goals:

• Scale up prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission programs, with the goal of ensuring that 80% of pregnant HIV-infected women have access to PMTCT services.
• Increase effective diagnosis and treatment of pediatric AIDS, with the goal of ensuring that at least 15% of those receiving ARV therapy are children under the age of 15.
• Ensure effective implementation of US legislation that mandates comprehensive care and support for OVC, including food and nutrition, psychosocial services, protection of inheritance rights, pediatric AIDS treatment, and school fee abolition.
• Secure increased funding for OVC programs in poor countries and ensure that the US allocates at least 10% of its global AIDS funding to OVC programs.
• Accelerate universal basic education and the abolition of school fees.
• Advance a comprehensive response to violence against children, with a focus on reducing girls' vulnerability to HIV and making schools safe.

These efforts will help ensure that all children have access to essential health, basic education, food and nutrition, psychosocial support, and other services.  In addition, addressing the needs of orphans and vulnerable children will encourage long-term economic growth in poor countries hardest hit by HIV and bolster social and political stability.  Ultimately, ensuring comprehensive care and support for OVC will encourage progress toward the Millennium Development Goals of achieving universal basic education (MDG #2), reducing child mortality (MDG #4), and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases (MDG #6).

Where can I learn more?

At the bottom of this page, you will find a selection of recent materials related to orphans and vulnerable children, including action alerts, news, and reports.  In addition, GAA partners with other organizations to help mobilize a comprehensive response to the OVC crisis, including meeting the needs of children living with HIV/AIDS.  Many of these groups offer additional information about issues related to OVC, including the following:

FXB International
Global Action for Children
Global Movement for Children
UNICEF's Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS Campaign
World Vision

Click here for a full list of GAA's advocacy partners.

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