Orphaned and Vulnerable Youth

Examining the Catastrophe in Botswana

Content

• Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) overview

• Current trends and statistics• Current support for the OVC– Stepping Stones International initiative

• Future goals/needs• Bibliography• Questions/Comments?!

OVC - Overview• OVC are young people who have lost one or

both parents – In sub-Saharan Africa, the leading cause of OVC is

HIV/AIDS– Many orphans are themselves living with AIDS

“I can’t emphasize strongly enough the extreme emotion turmoil of children orphaned by AIDS. What the world fails to recognize is that these children don’t become orphans when their parents die, they become orphans while their parents are dying, and this is especially true in the death of a mother.”- Stephen Lewis

OVC - Overview• Orphaned youth often:– Need to Care for siblings and chronically ill family– Use any means necessary to support themselves

and their families– Suffer from poor nutrition, lack access to health

care, miss school and face psychological and emotional difficulties

Current Trends and Statistics

• One in five children in Botswana are orphans• The number of AIDS orphans is soaring – by 2003, 14 million

children under age 15 had lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS– An estimated 106 million children under 15 are projected to have lost one or

both parents by 2010 – a quarter of this group orphaned due to AIDS

• Extended family was once reassuring for OVC, however it, too, is falling apart because of AIDS. • Child-headed and sibling families are becoming more and more popular

“ “ -that’s what’s happening right across the -that’s what’s happening right across the continent: the transfer of love and continent: the transfer of love and

knowledge and values and experience knowledge and values and experience from one generation to the next is gone, from one generation to the next is gone,

and with it goes the confidence and and with it goes the confidence and security and sense of place which children security and sense of place which children

normally take for granted. Children, normally take for granted. Children, already traumatized by the death of their already traumatized by the death of their parents, are left reeling as they confront parents, are left reeling as they confront

the void in the aftermath.” the void in the aftermath.” – – Stephen LewisStephen Lewis

Current Trends and Statistics• The UN has adopted the following framework to address the needs

of OVC– Strengthen families by prolonging the lives of parents and providing

economic, psychosocial and other support– Strengthen community-based responses to provide support to vulnerable

households– Ensure access to essential services for OVC– Improve policy and legislation to protect OVC– Raise awareness

Current Support for OVC• Despite the demographics, most programs do

not focus on the needs of adolescents; more than 50% of OVCs are aged 12-17– Orphaned adolescents lose those positive

influences related to sexual behaviour, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, etc, yet most OVC programs do not focus on these elements

• The services needed for adolescents who are orphaned go beyond housing and food

That’s UN-speak for That’s UN-speak for saying, “You’ve failed saying, “You’ve failed

lamentably: for God’s sake lamentably: for God’s sake get your act together.” get your act together.”

– – Stephen LewisStephen Lewis

Current Support for OVC• Programs need to include:– Strategies for Education– Livelihood Training– Reproductive Health and HIV Education– Psychosocial Needs

Stepping Stone International (SSI)• Founded by Styn and Lisa Jamu to provide:

– An after school program– Behaviour-changing curricula– Classes and activities to meet spiritual needs– Boost self-esteem

• Mission Statement: – “To empower youth to become leaders of the next generation by nurturing

their mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing”

• Vision: – “To motivate 75 percent of the orphan center’s participants to either continue

education or obtain employment by the age of 18, Stepping Stones offers hope to young people who, due to no fault of their own, are starting their adult lives with virtually nothing”

– Stepping Stones International eventually hopes to expand to Tanzania and other African countries where those ages 12-18 are most likely to fall through the social services cracks

Future Goals / Needs• Support needs to be driven by the UN to

national governments for effective programs that focus more attention on the needs of adolescents

• International community is lagging in developing models/strategies/approaches to use

““Nothing in historical experience has prepared us for Nothing in historical experience has prepared us for two generations of children rendered desperate, two generations of children rendered desperate, lonely, sad and bewildered by sheer circumstance.”lonely, sad and bewildered by sheer circumstance.”- Stephen Lewis- Stephen Lewis

BibliographyFerreira, Kathy – Sponsorship Update from Francistown

– http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/botswana-update.htm

Lee, Barbara Stinson – ‘Stepping Stones’ helps AIDS orphans– http://www.judgememorial.com/documents/steppingStones.pdf

Lewis, Stephen – Race Against Time, CBC Massey Lectures

Ruland, Claudia Daileader, et al – Adolescents: Orphaned and Vulnerable in the Time of HIV/AIDS– http://www.fhi.org/NR/rdonlyres/

ewps7bhbybdcrne4m3sfxvwrj57l5nflni2w2jfysko3pkgisuksmumfee3rsngidgn5vuoh6hsl3d/YI6.pdf– http://www.fhi.org/NR/rdonlyres/

elfya62j3eyc5uax6e3kvqyfnunesbm36ynbtzggk2drnutmz5eyzopaihrwg6eov4qyoc3ko6vqio/YL18e.pdf

QUESTIONS / COMMENTS?!