Orphans
By 2010, 25 million will be orphaned by AIDS globally. 9 out of 10 children living with HIV will be in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, “National governments, international partners and communities are failing to provide adequate care and support for the 15 million children orphaned by AIDS and for millions of other children made vulnerable by the epidemic. Although most heavily affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa have national policy frameworks for children made vulnerable by AIDS, fewer than one in ten children are reached by basic support services. Furthermore, orphans still lag behind non-orphans in school attendance.” (UNAIDS) Response to this crisis is not yet seen as a global priority.
- There are 2.4 Million Orphans in Tanzania, more than half are orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. (UNAIDS)
- In Tanzania there are currently 1.1 Million AIDS orphans. (UNAIDS)
- 16% of children live with neither parent
- 11% of children have lost one or both parents
Unfortunately many existing orphanages only have enough resource to cover the basic rights of shelter and sustenance. Life skills and sustainable living teaching are not often priorities in orphanages, giving grown children little opportunity to find work once they reach the age of 18 and are released from orphanage care. It is estimated that 80% of males are incarcerated within 3 years of leaving an orphanage and 60% of females turn to prostitution. These children take great risks to survive. Orphaned and abandoned children are at higher risk of missing out on schooling, suffer anxiety and depression, and are at higher risk of exposure to HIV.
