Mirza Muminovic looks at the staggering rise in the number of children orphaned in the wake of the AIDS epidemic in Africa
More than 13 million children around the world have already lost their mother, father, or both parents to AIDS. Unfortunately, the number orphaned by AIDS is far from being the final total; it is expected to increase to 25 million by 2010.1
Since the first clinical evidence of AIDS was reported, more than two decades ago, HIV has infected 60 million people. Every day, 14 000 new HIV infections add to the epidemic's staggering impact on the health and social and economic stability of nations.2 In 2001 alone, an estimated 5 million people were infected, 800 000 of whom were children.3
If the AIDS epidemic had not occurred, orphan rates would be declining in Africa, according to the report on the global HIV and AIDS epidemic. In fact, the report estimates that the number of orphans from all causes will remain stable in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean over the next decade, at the current level of 107 million. But if Africa is considered separately, the overall number of orphans is expected to rise, over a decade, to 42 million, from 34.3 million today.3
Because of AIDS, the number of orphans in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing dramatically. The systems of extended families that in many developing countries traditionally provide support for orphans are breaking down in the communities most affected. Millions of orphans living with extended families or in foster care live in risk of HIV infection because their personal circumstances make them especially vulnerable. They risk living on the streets and are vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Often, their fundamental rights--including access to medical care, education, and social services--are ignored.
Most children orphaned by AIDS are not infants when their parents die. They are usually school age and can only watch as one parent, then often the other, gradually grows ill and dies, with little planning for the child's future.
Imagine how the world would look through the eyes of this child, having watched his parents dying of AIDS. All the parents' love and care has gone forever, and often there is no one else to compensate. No one to give this child a chance to form and maintain emotional ties. Besides emotions, there are material and psychosocial needs that must be met; a difficult task in poverty stricken surroundings.
The grief and loss for all those living within this epidemic can be overwhelming but particularly so for children who may have watched their family members die. Their experience is often characterised by long term psychosocial distress, worsened by the pervasive stigma and shame attached to HIV and AIDS.
Orphans and other affected children are more likely to be malnourished or to fall ill and less likely to get the medical care they need. Poverty is the root cause, but neglect and discrimination by the adults caring for them are also important factors.4
Children orphaned by AIDS need not only a shelter but also a place within the community. As AIDS has broken up traditional family structures, more children are caring for children and orphans for orphans. Many children are struggling to survive on their own in households headed by children. Others have been forced to fend for themselves on the streets.5
With parents unable to work, children are forced to take on the frightening adult responsibilities of supporting the family. The pressures of earning for and caring for parents and siblings can lead children to withdraw from school, even while their parents are alive. The pressures to abandon school intensify when one or both parents die. Consequently, there is an increasing number of unprotected, poorly socialised and undereducated young people.4
The United Nations General Assembly's special session on HIV and AIDS in June 2001 was held to unite the world around the comprehensive plan to control the epidemic. Member states adopted the first global working plan against AIDS--the Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS.
The Declaration asks governments and partners to ensure non-discrimination and equal enjoyment of all human rights through actively promoting the destigmatisation of children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. It also urges all sectors of the international community to support programmes for children orphaned or made vulnerable in affected regions, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.4
HIV and AIDS will continue to affect the lives of several generations of children. The impact will mark communities for decades as the numbers of impoverished children rise, their insecurity worsens, education and work opportunities decline, nurturing and support systems erode, and mortality rises.5
Even if the spread of HIV stopped today, the number of orphans would still rise for a decade because parents who are already infected will die in the next few years.
