STAY CONNECTED

TOOLS FOR CBOs

TOOLS FOR CBOs SERVING VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN AFRICA

Building Blocks: Africa-wide briefing notes. Resources for communities working with orphans and vulnerable children, International HIV and AIDS Alliance. Drawing on ‘best program practices’, these notes provide guidance to organizations on program strategies. Developed through a participatory process involving more than 80 individuals across Africa and an international advisory board, they include useful commentary and illustrative case studies. Each ‘building block’ is made up of an introduction; an ‘issues’ section outlining the impact of HIV and AIDS on children; a ‘principles’ section providing guidelines for NGOs/CBOs; and a ‘strategies’ section, suggesting activities to strengthen support for orphans and vulnerable children. Program areas include: economic strengthening, education, health & nutrition, older caregivers, psychosocial support, social inclusion, and young children and HIV and AIDS.

Journey of Life Manuals, REPSSI. The Journey of Life approach offers a simple, easy-to-use tool for creating awareness in communities of the needs and problems that children face. Facilitators can run Journey of Life workshops in their communities to help transform their awareness into action to support their children’s emotional and social needs. The workshops use pictures and the metaphor of life-as-a-journey to highlight the challenges that we all face throughout our lives, and to emphasize the mechanisms that children (and their caregivers) use to overcome the challenges of death, loss, poverty, and family disintegration.

Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children Support Toolkit [for NGOs and CBOs], International HIV and AIDS Alliance and Family Health International. This toolkit offers a website and accompanying CD containing more than 300 downloadable resources and information on how to assist orphans and other vulnerable children. Subject areas include: running a program, health and nutrition, education, psychosocial support, economic strengthening, living environments, children’s rights, and quality improvement.

PUBLICATIONS ON CHILDREN, HIV, AIDS & POVERTY

Children and AIDS: Fourth Stocktaking Report, UNICEF, 2009.

AIDS Epidemic Update 2009, UNAIDS, 2009.

Global Health: HIV and AIDS Latest Resources & Information, Kaiser Family Foundation (current).

“No small issue: Children and families, Universal Action Now.” Plenary Presentation at the XVIIth International AIDS Conference, by Linda Richter, Mexico City, August 2008.

The Framework for the Protection, Care and Support of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Living in a World with HIV and AIDS, UNICEF, July 2004, companion paper released March 2007. A broad range of stakeholders collaborated to produce the Framework, targeted to senior leaders and decision-makers around the world who influence policies, programs and resources directed to orphans and vulnerable children. Its purpose is to provide a common agenda for mounting an effective response.

“Community Action and the Test of Time: Learning from Community Experiences and Perceptions, Case Studies of Mobilization and Capacity Building to Benefit Vulnerable Children in Malawi and Zambia,” by Jill Donahue & Louis Mwewa, December 2006.

Where The Heart Is: Meeting the psychosocial needs of young children in the context of HIV/AIDS, by Linda Richter, Geoff Foster, and Lorraine Sherr, published by Bernard van Leer & CCABA, July 2006. The three authors discuss the issues surrounding psychosocial care and support for children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS and make recommendations for future priorities and programming directions.

Africa’s Orphaned Generations, UNAIDS, UNICEF & PEPFAR, 2006. This report provides data on Sub-Saharan Africa's 12 million orphaned children and the households in which they live, based on analysis of household surveys from 40 countries in the region. This latest release of the report contains better research and recommendations on what governments, NGOs, the private sector, and the international community can do to improve the response.

Bottlenecks and Drip-feeds: Channeling resources to communities responding to orphans and vulnerable children in southern Africa, Save the Children UK, May 2005. This briefing document identifies a number of ‘bottlenecks’ that are stopping the smooth flow of funds to support community initiatives and offers key recommendations to address this problem.

Children on the Brink, USAID, UNAIDS and UNICEF, 2004. This report provides orphan number estimates and a framework for action.

UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS, United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) dedicated to HIV/AIDS, 2001. A major milestone in the response to HIV and AIDS, the Declaration remains a powerful tool that guides and secures action, commitment, support, and resources for the response to children affected by HIV and AIDS. Articles 65, 66, and 67 directly relate to children.

Draft Principles to Guide Programming for Orphans and other Children Affected by HIV and AIDS, UNICEF & USAID, 2000. This document was produced following the XIIIth International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa.

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