‘€œMy mother loved me. She used to buy for me what I asked her to buy for me. She used to teach me how to read books and to read the Bible. She used to teach me how to fold blankets. When she got sick, my grand-father came to visit her. She did not recognize anyone anymore. After that she stayed for three days, then, she died. My mother had a neck-lace with Mother Mary on it. It was gold. She wore it all the time. But when she went to bath she took it off. She gave it to me. When I wear it, it makes me think that she is always there for me’€, says a soft-spoken girl, barely into her teens, about the memory of her mother.

It is children such as this one whose development is under severe threat. Addressing delegates at a conference on Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Africa, in Johannesburg this week, chairperson of the steering committee of the meeting, Dr Ashraf Grimwood, said ‘€œthe health and development of children who are orphaned by AIDS, was at a far greater risk than that of children orphaned by other causes’€.  

‘€œWe have to acknowledge the evidence that children orphaned by AIDS suffer more than the loss of their parents. They are at greater risk of poor health, poor education and less protection than children who have lost parents through other causes. They are more likely to be malnourished, sick, subjected to child labour, abuse, neglect or sexual exploitation and are at a greater risk of contracting HIV. They suffer more discrimination, stigma and could be denied access to education, shelter as well as play’€ Grimwood told the conference.

In his address, he singled out the scale of orphan-hood in east and southern Africa, saying that the ‘€œSADC is home to more than 17 million orphans. About 28 million children in east and southern Africa lack one or both parents. And in South Africa, about 44% of children in the lowest quintile do not live with their biological parents’€.    

Many orphaned children end up becoming heads of house-holds, often looking after elderly grand-parents and younger siblings, thus, it is crucial that they also have a support network.

 ‘€œCarers who are children need to be recognised and supported wherever possible through support that will mitigate the economic responsibility they carry. They need to be supported so they, too, can attend school. They need ongoing information, education, training around how to care for old and young who are also sick as well as themselves. They also need psychological support. These children are often discriminated against, facing social exclusion as they exhaust their financial, social and emotional resources’€, said Grimwood.

He added that ‘€œcentral to reducing the number of orphans and the attendant challenges is to improve the outcomes of maternal health programmes, which is number 5 in the United Nations’€™ Millennium Development Goals’€.  

 ‘€œNo woman should die giving life. Most maternal deaths can be avoided. This MDG 5 has had the least progress and is the most under-funded. Unfortunately, in many countries across Africa the maternal mortality rate is increasing. And we’€™ve seen this in South Africa – haemorrhage, hypertension, HIV, malaria and heart disease being the main causes. It cannot be ignored and has to be seen as a critical component of prevention of orphans and vulnerable children and youth, and thus, should always be seen as part of a context of preventive strategies we implement’€ Grimwood said.

He also decried the high rate of teen-age pregnancies in the region of sub-Saharan Africa and emphasised the need for the education of girl children. He said ‘€œincreased access to family planning interventions could reduce maternal mortality from unwanted pregnancies’€.

‘€œAdolescents in our region have a high birth rate with no significant decline over the last 20 years. They are averaging 120 births per 1000 women aged 15 ‘€“ 19. Young women in the poorest households are three times more likely and more at risk of pregnancy and birth than the richest households ‘€“ and two times greater if they come from rural areas. Education, obviously, is critical. Girls with secondary education are least likely to become mothers. The unmet need for family planning remains moderate to high in sub-Saharan Africa, where 1 in 4 or 25%, have little access. So, improving access to family planning could result in a 27% drop in maternal mortality rate by reducing unintended pregnancies from 75 million to 22 million’€.

Grimwood called on civil society to always be there for orphaned children, urging society to help them live a purposeful existence and to create a better future for them.

‘€œThe holistic support of these children ‘€“ the physical, emotional, spiritual, psycho-social needs all need to be equally addressed. We are not sure how this will play out in the future. But chances are most will cope and most children will be up-standing citizens of the future’€, he said.