This paper, written from a health/HIV practitioner perspective, analyzes strategies for addressing the economic strengthening of orphans and vulnerable children in countries with a low prevalence of HIV/AIDS. It makes program and policy recommendations, filling an important gap in our understanding of programming for children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Asia and by inference, in other regions of low prevalence.

The study’s hypothesis is that:

• Economic strengthening (ES) of children affected by HIV/AIDS and families is more effective if it is community based (rather than just household or individual based)
  
• Examples of ES with children affected by HIV/AIDS in low prevalence countries may be different to those found in high prevalence countries
  
• Examples of ES in Asia involving communities are many, home grown and not necessarily in the HIV portfolio, with many lessons learned from the poverty alleviation sector
  
• Whatever the examples and interventions, ES is critical as it directly affects children’s access to services – education, health, nutrition and psycho-social

The study used a case study method to test this hypothesis, identifying four programs of ES and children affected by HIV/AIDS in three countries of Asia – India, Bangladesh and Cambodia. The projects are representative of the diversity and scope of the study and were selected using a child lens – which projects address children who are most affected and vulnerable to HIV?