Report on Orphans and Vulnerable Children Published by UNICEF and QAP
URC is pleased to announce publication of The Evidence Base for Programming for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in Low Prevalence and Concentrated Epidemic Countries. The working paper is the result of collaboration between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and URC’s Quality Assurance and Workforce Development Project (QAP). The USAID Health Care Improvement Project (HCI), the follow-on to QAP which took effect September 24, 2007, published the report for UNICEF and USAID.
Worldwide, the commitment to protect and support children affected by HIV/AIDS is growing, and countries with low level or concentrated epidemics are increasingly developing and putting in place special programs to support these children. The goal of the working paper was to summarize and weigh the evidence on a myriad of challenges faced by children affected by HIV/AIDS in low prevalence and concentrated epidemic countries in order to facilitate evidence-based programming.
To prepare the paper, the URC and UNICEF team reviewed documentation on the situation of children affected by HIV/AIDS in low prevalence and concentrated epidemic settings as related to their health, nutrition, education, protection, placement, psychosocial and cognitive development as well as their socioeconomic status and factors related to HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. The study team also analyzed the available evidence on interventions to support practical recommendations to strengthen the evidence base for programming on affected children.
Results of the review were presented at two UNICEF-sponsored regional meetings of country teams charged with developing programs to assist children affected by HIV/AIDS: (1) Sub-Regional Workshop in Dakar, Senegal, September 2007, entitled "Review National Plans of Action on Orphans and Vulnerable Children especially Children Affected By HIV and AIDS of low prevalence countries (West and Central Africa Region (WCAR)) and assess implementation bottlenecks," and (2) Southeast Asia Regional Partnership Forum in Bangkok, Thailand in March 2008, on Children and HIV and AIDS. These meetings demonstrated the importance of building an evidence base for programming, and the high value placed on such evidence by programmers.
Download report.
For more information on URC’s work to improve services for children affected by HIV/AIDS, please contact Dr. Lynne Miller Franco at lfranco@urc-chs.com.
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