Marseille 2007
Marseille 2007
Abstract book
Go Back

Abstract #486  -  Early Childhood Development and HIV/AIDS in Africa: Balancing Quality, Scale and Sustainability
Session:
  40.3: Children (Parallel) on Tuesday @ 14.00-16.00 in PR Chaired by Lorraine Sherr, Peter Laugharn
Authors:
  Presenting Author:   Mrs Jodie Fonseca - Save the Children US, United States
 
  Additional Authors:   
Aim:
To present the rationale for focusing on young children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa, and to discuss critical questions around child-level impacts and scalability of a specific childcare model developed by Save the Children USA.
 
Method / Issue:
Statement of the Issue Roughly 16 percent of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Africa are ages zero to five, a number that does not reflect the large number of young children otherwise made vulnerable by the epidemic. For all children, intense cognitive, psychosocial and physical development begins at birth, and care requirements are high. For children affected by HIV/AIDS, the consequences of adult illness and death are especially severe and can include reduced interaction and limited language development; childhood depression and trauma; and failure to realize potential over the long term. At the community level, HIV/AIDS can adversely affect childcare capacity through reduced time, energy and resources as well as disruption of traditional child rearing practices and safety nets.
 
Results / Comments:
Save the Childrens Response Despite this stark reality, young children are often invisible in the response to HIV/AIDS in Africa, in part because they cannot speak on behalf of themselves and are not yet accessible through primary schools. Over the past decade, Save the Children USA (SC/US) has addressed this challenge through support to community-based childcare centers (CBCCs). The CBCC model arose organically in Malawi in response to community demand for childcare to relieve the burden on families affected by the pandemic. CBCCs are managed by communities and cater for 100 or more children ages three to six who are identified using locally-defined criteria. The centers are staffed by volunteers who are often unpaid and minimally trained in child development. In addition, the CBCCs typically have only nominal resources, which may include blackboards and chalk, toys, and straw mats in place of desks and chairs. In recent years, the CBCC model has been adapted to other SC/US countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, Uganda and Mozambique.
 
Discussion:
Lessons Learned and Implications Save the Children has met with success in producing measurable outputs as a result of its CBCC activities, including mobilizing communities to manage their centers effectively; identifying children to participate in CBCCs, and providing basic training to facilitators. CBCCs have also produced largely anecdotal evidence of positive outcomes that help mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS, including self-reports from caregivers of more time for livelihood activities; observations of increased focused on vulnerable childrens needs by communities; and reports from parents and teachers that CBCC participants are brighter and more confident. Nevertheless, the deeper impacts of CBCCs on young childrens physical, psychosocial and cognitive development have yet to be investigated. For example, early childhood development activities in other areas of the globe have been shown to contribute significantly to the efficiency and effectiveness of the primary education system, a key point when advocating with national governments for increased investment in younger children. However, SC/US CBCC activities to date have not generated evidence to support this critical cost-efficieny and effectiveness argument in the African context. Save the Children is also challenged to promote a reasonable quality of early childhood development services in the CBCCs while at the same time balancing the harsh realities of resource-poor environments.
 
Go Back

  Disclaimer   |   T's & C's   |   Copyright Notice    www.AIDSImpact.com www.AIDSImpact.com