Mercy Global Concern - 2002

Global Orphans Crisis due to AIDS

A major international report released in Barcelona, Spain on July 10th 2002 finds that an already grim global orphan crisis is set to get worse as more and more adults die from AIDS, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The report, CHILDREN ON THE BRINK, calls for action at all levels to assist children, families and communities who are affected by the unprecedented emergency.

This report is the broadest and most comprehensive statistics yet on the current and projected number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The report finds that already more than 13.4 million children have lost one or more parents to the epidemic in the three regions studied, a number that will increase to 25 million by 2010. In addition to providing statistics on orphans from 88 countries, the report identifies the following trends:

- Africa has the greatest proportion of children who are orphans. In 2001, 34 million children in sub-Saharan Africa were orphans, one-third due to HIV/AIDS. By 2010, the number of orphans will reach 42 million. Twenty million of these children-, which is 6% of all children in Africa will be orphaned due to HIV/AIDS.
- Asia has the largest number of orphans. Due to Asia's large population, the number of orphans in Asia is much larger than that of Africa. In 2001, there were 65 million orphans.
- Orphan populations are concentrated. In 2001, 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 70% of the orphans. The three countries with the largest populations also had the most orphans- Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The new publication also discusses the devastating impact AIDS has had on children, families and communities. CHILDREN ON THE BRINK discusses five key strategies to assist children affected by AIDS, and urges that responses not overlook other children impacted by the epidemic. Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF said that addressing the needs of children with AIDS" must also include children seriously impacted by the epidemic, such as those with ill parents or living in households that have taken in orphans".
- UNICEF is the United Nations agency responsible for the rights and welfare of children, with offices in 161 countries worldwide. Because HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects the young, UNICEF has named HIV/AIDS one of its five key priorities for the coming years. The organization is concentrating its work in: prevention amongst young people, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and care and support of children impacted by the pandemic

Children on the Brink is available on www.usaid.gov

Deirdre Mullan RSM
Associate Director
Mercy Global Concern
United Nations
NY