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?
The United States government (USG) is establishing a four-person secretariat within USAID to further improve the coordination and effectiveness of USG assistance to orphans and vulnerable children, and maximize the impact on children of USG resources. The following positions are currently open for US citizens to apply:
- Orphans and Vulnerable Children Program Analyst (closes March 20)
- Senior Technical Advisor for Monitoring and Evaluation of Assistance to Vulnerable Children (closes March 23)
- Deputy Special Advisor for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (closes March 27)
