21 000 children orphaned in 2003

AN estimated 21 000 Namibian children lost one or both their parents last year alone, the majority of which were AIDS-related deaths.

A new Children on the Brink Report tabled at this week’s international AIDS conference in Bangkok said a similar number of children were living with chronically ill family members and would become orphans this year. With traditional support systems already under severe pressure, the report warned, many extended families in Namibia were “overwhelmed and in greater need of external support and protective safety nets”.It said the 21 000 children who became orphans last year made up around 15 per cent of all Namibian orphans.In total, Namibia has 120 000 orphans – 12 per cent of all children in the country.Of the 120 000 orphans some 57 000 or 48 per cent lost their parents to AIDS.The number is expected to reach 180 000 in 2010 – an 18 per cent increase.”While children can lose their parents at any age, the proportion of children who are orphans generally increases with age, and older orphans greatly outnumber young orphans,” the report said.Children on the Brink 2004 presented the latest statistics on historical, current and projected numbers of children under the age of 18 who have been orphaned by AIDS and other causes.In just two years, between 2001 and 2003, the report states, the global number of children orphaned by AIDS had risen from 11,5 million to 15 million – the vast majority in Africa.It said the AIDS epidemic was wreaking havoc on a scale unimagined in sub-Saharan Africa.The report calls for the urgent development and expansion of family-based and community-based care for boys and girls who live outside of family care.Placement in residential institutions is best reserved as a last resort when better care options have not yet been developed or as a temporary measure pending placement in a family, the report states.Unicef, which produced the report, has endorsed a framework of action to guide donor nations and the governments of affected countries to respond to the urgent needs of children affected by HIV-AIDS.With traditional support systems already under severe pressure, the report warned, many extended families in Namibia were “overwhelmed and in greater need of external support and protective safety nets”.It said the 21 000 children who became orphans last year made up around 15 per cent of all Namibian orphans.In total, Namibia has 120 000 orphans – 12 per cent of all children in the country.Of the 120 000 orphans some 57 000 or 48 per cent lost their parents to AIDS.The number is expected to reach 180 000 in 2010 – an 18 per cent increase.”While children can lose their parents at any age, the proportion of children who are orphans generally increases with age, and older orphans greatly outnumber young orphans,” the report said.Children on the Brink 2004 presented the latest statistics on historical, current and projected numbers of children under the age of 18 who have been orphaned by AIDS and other causes.In just two years, between 2001 and 2003, the report states, the global number of children orphaned by AIDS had risen from 11,5 million to 15 million – the vast majority in Africa.It said the AIDS epidemic was wreaking havoc on a scale unimagined in sub-Saharan Africa.The report calls for the urgent development and expansion of family-based and community-based care for boys and girls who live outside of family care.Placement in residential institutions is best reserved as a last resort when better care options have not yet been developed or as a temporary measure pending placement in a family, the report states.Unicef, which produced the report, has endorsed a framework of action to guide donor nations and the governments of affected countries to respond to the urgent needs of children affected by HIV-AIDS.