Orphans and vulnerable children: The concept of “vulnerable” children in Africa
Key words: children’s rights, Orphaned and Vulnerable Children, OVC, vernacularization, language, human rights and culture
Introduction
Language and the words we use matter in human rights. Words are of greater importance when we use them to describe both simple and complex concepts in our surroundings. Furthermore, language and culture are powerful forces in the understanding, translation, transmission and protection of human rights, especially the rights of children. “Orphans and Vulnerable Children” or commonly known as OVC is a term that has been used to describe the growing population of children who have lost either one or both parents to AIDS or children
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The AIDS epidemic ravaged communities and behind the trail of tears are millions of children who lost parents, siblings, grandparents and other family members who were caretakers. Since the onset of the AIDS pandemic 30 years ago, the population of children impacted by AIDS – through losing one or both parents – will continue to increase. Sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of this epidemic. These are the orphans and vulnerable children – a main target of HIV/AIDS programming for children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS.
This essay is inspired by the recently published book, Children and AIDS: Sub-Saharan Africa in which the editors, Margaret Lombe and Alex Ochumbo challenge Africans and all those working to ensure African children’s rights are realized:
“We hope to prompt a reflection and dialogue on the plight of the African child who has been classified as vulnerable. For the authors, this question is a serious moral issue pointing to broad societal malaise. How did the phenomenon of child vulnerability take hold in sub-Saharan Africa? What happened to the familial and extra-familial systems of care that define the spirit of “Ubuntu”? how does this experience impact Africa’s
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It is not clear how long the term “orphans and vulnerable children has been in use. The usage of this term is heavily associated with immense effort by the United States government to combat HIV/AIDS introduced through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) IN 2003. Among its successes, PEPFAR has been instrumental in supporting HIV treatment, prevention, care and support for orphans and vulnerable children. According to PEPFAR’s first annual report, Orphans are defined as children under the age of 18 years who have lost either a mother or father, and vulnerable children are those affected by HIV through the illness of a parent or principal caretaker. The OVC Toolkit by the World Bank is a comprehensive tool which defines core concepts such as “child”, “orphan”, “vulnerability” and also the downward spiral of child vulnerability. These frameworks and definitions are important, they trace the sources and impacts of of various vulnerabilities experienced by children orphaned and made vulnerable by AIDS – this helps in the operationalization of the challenge and population of children in
“Clinically, the HIV infected adolescents present as physically stunted individuals, with delayed puberty and adrenarche. Mental illness and substance abuse are important co-morbidities” (Naswa, 2010). Naswa, 2010 also reports that adolescences with HIV have a higher susceptibility rate to contract STD’s that the average individual due to the thinner lining of mucus in the ovaries at this stage of their development. The stigma of living with HIV is also a factor for her psychosocial development. The fact that she contracted this disease from her father further contributes to emotional trauma.
I was in the grips of genocide, and there was nothing I could do. Operation No Living Thing was put into full effect (Savage 33). The R.U.F., however, was not alone in servicing children as their own messengers of evil, the military group countering their acts of violence also had children fighting their battles. A Long Way Gone and The Bite of the Mango are eye-opening books because they give people all over the world a glimpse into the horrors kids in Africa face on a daily basis. However different Mariatu Kamara and Ishmael Beah’s experiences were regarding their journeys and disabilities, they both exhibited the same extraordinary resilience in the end to better themselves, create futures they could be proud of, and make the best of what the war left them.
To help the women in Africa in their struggle with the problems caused by the AIDS pandemic, we must first help the women have a voice and gender equality in the developed countries and the organizations of which these developed countries are a part of.
Child welfare system was originated with the goals that social workers would try and alleviate poverty and its impact; however as the years have passed, the child welfare system turned into a child protection system directed toward investigating abuse and neglect, and removing children from families and placing them in foster care, and is no longer prepared to assist in resolving the problems of child poverty (Lindsey, 2004). Child welfare system has been developed around the residual approach which demands that aid should be given only after the family is in crisis or other support groups have failed to meet a child’s minimal needs. However, over the years, there have been different focuses for the child welfare system, whether it involved
Kofi Annan persuades his readers that Africa's fate lies in their women with several different ideas. These ideas can be condensed down to two main topics. First, women are the main agriculture workers in Africa. When the mother of a family dies her farming knowledge goes with her. This, in turn, causes farming in her family to dwindle and eventually leads to starvation. Second, when a mother dies in Africa it has a ripple effect on her family. When she dies, her children are often orphaned. Her death can also cause her older female children to drop out of school so they can help to support their family. Without proper education, these children are more likely to not know how to protect themselves against AIDS. Annan closes his essay with the hope that the problem is at least starting to get better, noting that AIDS infection rates have declined throughout Africa.
Children should not have to go through any of that. It is quite unbelievable but “HIV rates for homeless people are three to nine times higher than report rates for competitive samples in the US. A study across four cities found a prevalence of two point three percent for homeless youth under twenty five” (“eleven facts about homeless”). “Two million and two hundred thousand children die each year due to the fact they do not become immunized. Fifteen million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS” according to Snah. The HIV rates for homeless children are not good. The rate needs to go down. Out of all the runaway youths, over forty percent have been abandoned by their parents. Also, over forty percent have been beaten by their parents (“eleven facts about homeless”). It is proven children with homeless mothers are more likely to stay with them than if their father had been homeless (“Homeless”). Almost half of runaways happen when they have been abandoned or
In his article “The Blood-Stained Indian Child Welfare Act,” Will successfully brings to light the horrors that accompany the ICWA. However, the ICWA is only one act in one nation. Given the existence of nearly two hundred countries in the world, more acts similar to the ICWA must exist, meaning that thousands of children are in danger. How many of these children could be saved if people simply became more
The AIDS epidemic has reached disastrous proportions on the continent of Africa. Over the past two decades, two thirds of the more than 16 million people in the world infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, live in sub-Saharan Africa. It is now home to the largest number of people infected, with 70 percent of the world’s HIV infected population. The problem of this ongoing human tragedy is that Africa is also the least equipped region in the world to cope with all the challenges posed by the HIV virus. In order understand the social and economic consequences of the disease, it is important to study the relationship between poverty, the global response, and the effectiveness of AIDS prevention, both government and grass roots.
22. African Charter on the Right and Welfare of the Child (n.p.: Organization of African Unity, 1990), 5-6, accessed May 21, 2014, http://www.au.int/en/sites/default/files/Charter_En_African_Charter_on_the_Rights_and_Wlefare_of_the_Child_AddisAbaba_July1990.pdf.
OneChild acts as motivation to organize an amazing but often disregarded force: youth. So OneChild looks toward the parents, educators, and other adult supporters to forge a youth-adult partnership with the goal of removing child sex slavery from the world. They save the children, giving them another chance at life. Some victims said that it was hard to recover from the hardships and torture they have faced, but with the help of other kids and teenagers of the same age, it’s easy to open up and let out all emotions and feelings. They believe that the kids aren’t at fault and that’s true, the kids are forced to by the circumstance that’s surrounds them at that point in
Voight, Kevin. “international adoption: saving orphans or child trafficking”. Cnn news. 18 September 2013. Web. 24 march 2014. www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/world/international-adoption-saving-orphans-trafficking/.
"OSCE Special Representative Highlights Child Victims at Vienna Anti-trafficking Concert." United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking HUB. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
The emergence of HIV/AIDS is viewed globally as one of the most serious health and developmental challenges our society faces today. Being a lentivirus, HIV slowly replicates over time, attacking and wearing down the human immune system subsequently leading to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) at which point the affected individual is exposed to life threatening illnesses and eventual death. Despite the fact that a few instances of this disease have been accounted for in all parts of the world, a high rate of the aforementioned living with HIV are situated in either low or medium wage procuring nations. The Sub-Saharan region Africa is recognized as the geographic region most afflicted by the pandemic. In previous years, people living with HIV or at risk of getting infected did not have enough access to prevention, care and treatment neither were they properly sensitized about the disease. These days, awareness and accessibility to all the mentioned (preventive methods, care etc.) has risen dramatically due to several global responses to the epidemic. An estimated half of newly infected people are among those under age 25(The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic). It hits hard as it has no visible symptoms and can go a long time without being diagnosed until one is tested or before it is too late to manage.
Child labour is an issue that has plagued society since the earliest of times. Despite measures taken by NGOs as well as the UN, child labour is still a prevalent problem in today’s society. Article 23 of the Convention on the Rights of a Child gives all children the right to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child 's education, or to be harmful to the child 's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.1 Child labour clearly violates this right as well as others found in the UDHR. When we fail to see this issue as a human rights violation children around the world are subjected to hard labour which interferes with education, reinforces
Janet Wash. “Women’s Property Rights Violations and HIV/AIDS in Africa.” Peace Review April-September: Page 190, 192, 193