This report provides a summary of key findings from evaluations of four programs, two in Kenya and two in Tanzania, supporting orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC). This study was conducted by MEASURE Evaluation in 2006-2007 and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The overall aim of these evaluations was to ascertain the extent to which program interventions are effective in improving the well-being of OVC and their families, and the interventions’ cost-effectiveness in achieving key outcomes.

The report findings include affirmation that initiatives extending beyond OVC to include guardians and the general community were found to be associated with some positive outcomes for guardians, as well as for the children under their care. For instance, support group participation of OVC guardians was associated with positive psychosocial outcomes for guardians as well as less household abuse and more prosocial behavior of the children in their household. Further, two interventions that provided guardians with an opportunity to supplement family income were associated with reduced household food insecurity and achieved such success at a low cost per beneficiary. Additionally, study findings highlight the importance of involving guardians in the development of interventions targeting children

This report makes the case for redirecting the response to HIV and AIDS to address children’s needs more effectively. Drawing on the best body of evidence yet assembled on children affected by AIDS, it shows where existing approaches have gone off track and what should now be done, how, and by whom. The report summarizes the evidence from two years of research and analysis by the Joint
Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS (JLICA).

Focusing mainly on countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the report examines what has worked and what hasn’t in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and emphasizes the need for HIV and AIDS services to be complemented with a social protection agenda, placing children front and center. Strengthening families, supporting collaborative action within communities, and securing the human capital of rising generation will be key elements in future efforts to end the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Click the link below to download the report in English. It is also available in French and Portuguese here.

The SEEP Network’s HIV & AIDS and Microenterprise Development (HAMED) Working Group is holding a weeklong online conference that addresses savings-led approaches in HIV & AIDS integrated programming. Discussion will be facilitated by HAMED members with the expert assistance of a panel of Savings-Led guest ‘speakers’ who will draft expert posts during the course of the weeklong conference. This conference is designed to be an open dialogue space for interested MED and public health professionals, a learning platform, and source of virtual peer review.

Millions of people in Africa are ill, suffering, and dying prematurely because of HIV, malnutrition, and food scarcity. Much has been documented about the critical importance of good nutrition to immunity, survival, productivity, and quality of life, and the challenge of ensuring availability of food. AF09 is providing participants with the opportunity to share their first-hand experience in designing and implementing the programmes that are so badly needed to address these issues.

This brief outlines the major findings of a research project into livelihoods and parental planning in Southern Africa. The aim of the study was to find out how parents and other caregivers are planning and acting to secure their children’s future. The intention was to paint a broad picture of people’s livelihoods to understand their perspectives and experiences, what is affecting their families and welfare, which interventions they are benefiting from, and how they are responding. The results of qualitative household research in rural Chikwawa District in Malawi, as well as peri-urban Amajube District and urban Durban in South Africa, indicate that vulnerable people are aware of the threats to their welfare and that they have limited options to sustain their families and livelihoods, let alone provide their children with the means to achieve a stable existence.

This document offers practical guidance for programs aimed at addressing the needs of children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. It provides key definitions, guiding principles, and important considerations for programming decisions. The guidance clarifies PEPFAR/Emergency Plan priorities and the activities that it will fund related to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). It builds on the principles outlined in the U.S. Five-Year Global HIV/AIDS Strategy, and extends the vision and guidance of the President’s Emergency Plan. The knowledge and evidence base underpinning this guidance continues to grow. With new experiences and learning over time, this OVC Guidance is expected to evolve. Updates will incorporate new insights, improved practices and lessons learned.

How can value chains include and support populations affected by conflict, natural disaster, or HIV/AIDS? USAID’s microLINKS is hosting an online discussion, facilitated by Ben Fowler (MEDA), Luis Osorio (Practical Action) and Christian Pennotti (AED) from April 28-30 on this question. Explore how value chain development programs can effectively include vulnerable populations, discuss how use and abuse of power during a crisis can impact value chain programs, and learn how to adjust your activities to the particular position and population you are working with.

Each day, participants are invited to share their own experiences, questions and comments in the discussion forum:

• Day 1: Involving vulnerable populations. What barriers participation are faced by more vulnerable populations? Are demand-driven approaches always sufficient to ensure their participation?
• Day 2: The politics of crisis. How does the use or abuse of power in a crisis affect the impacts of value chain programs for vulnerable populations?
• Day 3: Adjusting practice to context. A look at the practical experiences of people working on value chain development programs for vulnerable populations. What can we learn from those experiences?

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?

This report is the result of a series of participatory workshops with children who are part of the Kwa Wazee Project in the Kagera district of Tanzania. The main activity of the Project is to provide a cash transfer in the form of a small monthly pension to grandparents (mostly grandmothers) who are caretakers for orphaned children.

The report provides an understanding of the issues children are facing and directions for policy and programme intervention. It is clear that children living in elderly-headed households have more stressors in their lives than children living with parents. The findings in this study suggest that the following characterise the issues affecting elderly-headed households:

• poverty
• grandchildren as caretakers
• an uncertain future
• a generation gap

This section of the USAID microLINKS website provides an overview of the USAID Value Chain framework and related resources. The framework is useful in assessing markets to identify a) potential market opportunities for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), b) constraints to market growth and the inclusion of MSMEs and c) priority points of intervention in order to overcome those constraints.