ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF NGOS ON THE RESILIENCE OF OVCS IN MBUYA PARISH

A CASE OF REACH OUT MBUYA HIV/AIDS INITIATIVE

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

The Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (2011) defined an orphan as a child below the age of 18 or below age 15 with one or both parents deceased. The UDHS (2011) further defined a vulnerable child as one below the age of 18, below age 15 who has a chronically ill parent, or who lives in a household where an adult has been chronically ill or has died in the 12 months preceding the survey. However, conventionally a vulnerable child is one who when compared to other children using a selected set of criteria, is at great risk of suffering significant emotional, physical, or mental harm that may result in the child’s human rights not being fulfilled. Based on this definition, almost all children in Uganda are vulnerable. With 57% of our population below the age of 18, Uganda is a young country and there is no doubt that our future lies with our children. UNICEF, (2020), currently high estimates the number of orphans in Uganda at 2,000,000 which is 4% of Uganda’s population this number of children leave in absolute poverty. UBOS, 2020 estimated Uganda to have over 4.5 million orphans and vulnerable children, and the majority of these orphans were paternal orphans living with their mothers. According to the UNAIDS report of 2020, 1,700,000 orphans in Uganda are attributed to HIV/AIDS thus the mushrooming NGOs respond to the increasing needs of orphans and vulnerable children.

The well-being and health of the surviving widows are very supreme to the survivability of orphans and other vulnerable children.  Statistics by UBOS, 2012 indicate that 205,272 were children with disability, 461,631 children labourers, 41,822 child-headed households, 121,723 girl-children who were mothers, and 944,875 idle children. The National Strategic Programme Plan of Interventions for Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (2004) revealed that there are an estimated 10,000 street children living in the municipalities and capital city of Uganda; 10,000-15,000 children living in camps in the northern District as a result of armed conflict; and an increasing number of other forms of vulnerability arising out of poverty; break up of marriages, domestic violence, and divorce.

Therefore, this chapter presents the general introduction of the study with particular focus on the background of the study, statement of the problem, research questions, study objectives, study scope, significance as well as conceptual framework, and definitions of key concepts.

• Background of the Study

Orphans and vulnerable children face increasing challenges in accessing socio-economic and legal services. According to the situational analysis of OVCS in Uganda conducted in 2009 by the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development, 96% of the children are vulnerable due to mostly orphanage as well as the unconducive social, economic and political environment in which they are growing. Concerning the above UNICEF, (2016) indicates that over the last three decades, the world has witnessed unprecedented upheavals manifesting through civil conflicts, epidemics, and natural calamities of varying intensity and scale. As a result, many lives have been lost and maimed, leaving behind thousands of helpless dependents. Children, in particular, have become susceptible to social and economic hardships due to the loss of parents, illness in the home, displacement, and often-involuntary neglect. At the end of 2003, there were an estimated 143 million orphans in the world and by 2020, the number had increased. According to UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund), there are roughly 153 million orphans worldwide (UNICEF, 2020) which is attributed to HIV and AIDS without which the global number would be declining.

The rights of orphans and vulnerable children are grossly abused. Striking poverty, disease burden especially HIV/AIDS and the political unrest worldwide continue to leave many children orphaned and greatly vulnerable (Pillay, 2020). Although there has been an increased commitment on the side of the government and NGOs to protect the rights of OVCS as explicitly indicated in the national orphans and other vulnerable children policy (2004) and the National Strategic Program Plan of Interventions for Orphans and other Vulnerable children (2004) orphans worldwide are facing challenges in accessing basic needs (Ntuli et al., 2020).

The rights of children are internationally, regionally and nationally recognized as indicated by the various legal and policy instruments like the Convention on the rights of a child (UN 1989), the African Charter on the rights and welfare of the child (2013) as well as the various national constitutions and Acts of parliaments worldwide (Arts, 2014). Besides being entitled to the whole set of rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) as well as other international, regional conventions and treaties, children need to be accorded special rights to facilitate their proper growth and development in all aspects of life (De Beco, 2014). Although the above legal instruments provide a universal guide to the protection and advancement of the rights of children in general, there has been a great realization of the need to enhance the protection of the rights of orphans and other vulnerable children at all levels of socio-economic and political organization. Several studies done all around the globe show the increasing number of OVCS due to striking poverty, diseases especially HIV/AIDS as well as armed conflicts putting up special avenues, through which the rights of OVCS have advanced (Kibachio, and Mutie, 2020).

Due to the disproportionate presence of the three factors (poverty, disease, and armed conflict) on which the high numbers of OVCS are pivoted to in the world, undoubtedly Africa has the highest numbers of OVCs. On the national scene, while the accurate statistics on vulnerable children are not known with certainty, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) (2010) shows that orphans constitute 14.1% of the 17.1 million of the children are under 18 years. Despite the inability to accurately estimate the number of vulnerable children in the country, poverty levels, disease burden as well as the country’s political turmoil especially in the North, and not forgetting the many natural disasters that have hit the country in the recent past, the levels of vulnerability of children is exposed to steadily increase (Kalibala & Elson, 2009).

The 2009 situational analysis of OVCS indicated that 96% of the children in the country are vulnerable and that 51% of these are critically vulnerable. Among these are; neglected children, children with disabilities, street children, child laborers, children in child and single mother headed households, children from very poor households, and children in areas of armed conflicts. Due to their predicament, OVCS are powerless and consequently, their rights are not well addressed and hence the need for a holistic approach as the world reaches out to the vulnerable children. In most developed countries and a few developing ones like South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana, it is the duty of the state to provide for OVCs key services like Education, Health, and legal aid services in the national budgetary allocations.

Non-government organizations (NGOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs) are playing a big role in providing care for orphans and vulnerable children through supporting families using a variety of approaches. However, although the scope of needs and challenges faced by orphans is wide, not many NGOs and FBOs undertake interventions in more than one area. Consequently, their services remain largely limited in scope. NGOs operate with different principles, have limited outreach capacities, are partial, cost-ineffective, and do not reach the poorest of the poor. The loss of parents due to HIV/AIDS is the leading contributor to OVCs; other factors include poverty and preventable diseases. This places children in compromising situations like taking lead as family heads to meet the day-day needs (food, education, clothing, and shelter) of their siblings, taking care of their sick parents (Ojo et al., 2019).  In Uganda, the care of OVCs has been observed to have many gaps and many of the orphans are left with no specific care.  Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), 2019 report indicates that OVCs are most likely not going to be employed, they cannot afford proper medical care, and they lack the basics despite the presence of NGOs in Uganda. It is against this background that this study intends to assess the effects of NGOs on the resilience of OVCs in Mbuya parish in the case of Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative.

1.2 Problem Statement 221

The striking poverty, disease burden especially HIV/AIDS, and the political unrests worldwide continue to leave many children orphaned and greatly vulnerable. According to the situational analysis of OVCS in Uganda conducted in 2009 by the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development, 96% of the children are vulnerable due to mostly orphanages as well as the socially, economically, and politically unconducive environment in which they are growing. Within this environment, the rights of the OVCS are grossly abused, and seeking redress is particularly hard given their level of vulnerability. Although there has been an increase in commitment on the side of the government and NGOs to protect the rights and enhance their resilience, OVCS are missing key basic needs and therefore, this has led to the questioning of the relevance of NGOs towards their resilience. According to UBOS 2012, Uganda had a population of 19,566,000 children and 52% of the children were under 15 years. The OVCs are faced with multidisciplinary challenges ranging from health, education, food security, legal services, and psychosocial support. About 11% of total children under the age of 15 years in Uganda are orphaned and 38% of the children under the age of 15 are vulnerable (Kelley et al., 2016). However, the efforts by NGOs on OVCs are failing to be resilient to the challenges brought about by HIV/AIDS. Uganda has more than 2,048,000 children aged between five years and 17 years engaged in child labor (Oyier, 2015). Additionally, Uganda has the second youngest population in the world with 78% being young people less than 30 years old and 49.3% being children less than 15 years (Ganga, and Maphalala, 2013) thus most of the orphans in Uganda are facing challenges with acquiring basic needs. Therefore, indicates that the presence of NGOs has not aided OVCs much to be resilient and overcome the challenges brought about by HIV/AIDS. It is against this background that this study intends to assess the effects of NGOs on the resilience of OVCs in Mbuya parish a case study of Reach Out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative.

• Objectives of the Study

This section includes the; general objective and specific objectives.

General Objective

To assess the effect of NGOs on the resilience of OVCs in Mbuya Parish,  Reach Out Mbuya HIV/AIDS initiative

Specific Objectives

• To examine the NGO activities on OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative.
• To investigate the challenges that NGOs face while supporting OVC resilience at Reach Out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative.
• To determine the strategies to curb the challenges NGOs face while supporting OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative.

• Research Questions
  • What are the NGO activities on OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative?
  • What are the challenges that NGOs face while supporting OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative?
  • What are the strategies to curb the challenges NGOs face while supporting OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative?
• Scope of the Study

The scope of this study is determined by the time scope, conceptual scope as well as geographical scope.

1.5.1 Content scope

The study will concentrate on the following variables; NGO activities on OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative, the challenges that NGOs face while supporting OVC resilience, and the strategies to curb the challenges NGOs face while supporting OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative.

1.5.2 The geographical scope

The study will be carried out at Reach Out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative, which operates within Mbuya parish, Nakawa Division Kampala district.

1.5.3    Time Scope

The period of data to be considered from Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative will be from 2015 to 2020; this is because, during this period, there has been an increase in the number of OVCs in the streets of Kampala and the NGOs have increased in Kampala.

• Significance of the Study

To the policymakers at the ministry and local government levels, findings may inform the revision of existing policies or the development of new policy concepts. To the advocators in the support of OVCS, findings may serve as an empirical basis for programming and resource allocation implementers. In the academic field, the study results will serve as a reference source and as a basis for subsequent research in related areas.

The study findings will be so significant in academic, policy, and service delivery circles. In the first place, data that will be captured during the study will be instrumental in linking service users and providers. This will be possible as the study will avail information on NGOs as well as capture the views of the users. This will be a useful guide in formulating and implementing appropriate reforms to improve accessibility to NGO services not only in the study area but also in Uganda as a whole.

From the academic point of view, the study will make a useful contribution to the pool of knowledge about the phenomenon under study. The findings of this study will generate useful debates, which may in the future provide the basis for further research.

• Justification of the study

Though there have been numerous research studies on assessing the effect of NGOs on the resilience of OVCs, none has been so exhausting and none has been specifically on in Mbuya Parish, a case of Reach Out Mbuya HIV/AIDS initiative. Some of the studies on orphans and vulnerable children like the 17 country assessment of sub-Saharan Africa, (“OVC RAAAP Initiative, USAID, UNICEF, UNAIDS, and WFP” 2005:3), ‘Sub Saharan Orphan crisis” (Lombe and Ochumbo 2008), 20 country research by World vision Switzerland 2008 in Sub Saharan Africa, of which Uganda was inclusive, (Asha, 2009) on 14 NGOs and 28 Projects in Ethiopia. The 15 districts assessment by (the Ministry of Finance 2006: 23) on poverty reduction would have drawn the best picture because the study included the role of NGOs but looked at men and women households and not OVC households (Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development November 2006: 22).

The design, implementation, and evaluation of community-based interventions for orphans and vulnerable children continue to be a key gap in the evidence base” which was recently echoed by Schenk in their study in 2010 (Schenk et al. 2010).   There was a need therefore for a study to analyze the strategies of NGOs and see how they are enhancing child-wellbeing in OVC households in Uganda. It was also important to ask questions about NGO interventions for beneficiaries who possess the right to social protection on how effective are NGO strategies. This study will specifically enable the government to have necessary critical information specifically on the OVCs situation in Mbuya parish.

• Conceptual Framework

The gross abuse of children’s rights, lack of educational resources, and general lack of basic needs due to their vulnerability amplify the need to question their resilience. Therefore, in order to achieve the objectives of this study as stated above, the study variables will investigate the following variables in a systematic pattern of the analysis presented in figure 1.1 below.

This study will investigate the relationship between the effects of NGOs (Independent variable) and the resilience of OVCs (dependent variables) by orphans and vulnerable children. The dimensions of effects of NGOs include; provision of education, provision of psychosocial support, provision of health services, and provision of food security while the resilience of OVCs is measured on; the ability to attend school, ability to have good shelter, quality health services and ability to have legal services.

• Definition of Key Terms

Vulnerable child:      The UDHS (2006) further defined a vulnerable child as one below the age of 18, below age 15 who has a chronically ill parent, or who lives in households where an adult has been chronically ill or has died in the 12 months preceding the survey.

Orphan:                     Any person who is below the age of 18 years, who has lost one or both parents due to death (MoGL&SD, 2009).

: Any child below the age of 18 years who has lost one or both parents to any cause (World vision 2000).

Violence against children:    All actions or omissions/inactions that harm children’s physical and emotional wellbeing. It includes sexual, physical, emotional abuse, child neglect, and abandonment, the subjection of children to hazardous work, conscription in armed conflict, and child sacrifice (Hunter & Williamson, 2000).

Vulnerable child:                  A child who is suffering and/or is likely to suffer any form of abuse or deprivation and is therefore in need of care and protection;

This is a child who, based on a set of criteria when compared to other children, bears a substantive risk of suffering significant physical, emotional, or mental harm.

In HIV/AIDS programming, all children affected and infected with HIV/AIDS are termed as orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) (UNAIDS 2002).

Children:

Children are defined as boys and girls below the age of 18 years. An orphan is a child below the age of 18 years who has lost one or both parents.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This section of the study presents the findings in line with the study objectives; to examine the NGO activities on OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative, to investigate the challenges that NGOs face while supporting OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative as well as to determine the strategies to curb down the challenges NGO face while supporting OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative.

2.1 The NGO activities on OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative

Children without parents are not only among the most vulnerable members of society – their care and protection present a major child-care policy challenge. To date, finding the necessary resources to protect orphans has become a priority for the international aid community (Ennew 2005). This is reflected in ‘rights-based approaches’ to child welfare underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Among other things, the UNCRC establishes standards for the fulfillment of the well-being of children without parental care. Different articles of the Convention also stipulate the provision, protection, and participation of orphans and other vulnerable children in similar circumstances. These include Article 9 (on children’s right to continued contact with parents when in the care of the state); Article 10 (on family reunification if children and parents become separated by national borders); Article 20 (on the state’s responsibilities and alternative forms of care for children separated from their parents); Article 21 (on adoption); and Article 25 (on the need for periodic reviews of placements for children without parents in institutional or alternative care).

Although rights-based approaches tend to be powerful at present, they are not the only framework for the care and protection of orphans. Throughout history, different actors of development (the state, the family, charitable organizations, NGOs) have been promoting different strategies of care for orphans and vulnerable children. These strategies not only change with time but also are dynamic according to what one might call the ‘language of development’. This paper explores the policy implications of problematic constructions of ‘global orphans’ and the challenges of their care in the contexts of deepening poverty and social inequality. It argues that policy interventions for orphans and other vulnerable children mirror globalized ideals of proper childhood that shape the discourses of care. The paper first discusses the social history of orphanhood and the ways in which orphans are viewed variably in different societies. Secondly, it explores how orphanhood is associated with victimhood, innocence, vulnerability, and dependence, and examines a wide range of care interventions for orphans, including family care, institutional care, community-based care, and rights-based care. Drawing on an example of a ‘globalized’ model of institutional care, namely SOS children’s villages, the paper finally examines broad challenges of poverty and marginalization facing children in low-resource countries and suggests some policy options to ensure the well-being of children in need from a rights-based perspective (Kibachio, and Mutie, 2020).

Non-government organizations provide legal aid services to OVC in order to enable them to be resilient to HIV/AIDS negative outcomes.  Legal aid is provided by countries that recognize the social obligation to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor which is a fundamental human right enshrined in various international, regional and national human rights instruments (Skovdal, and Daniel, 2012). Legal aid service provision is established as primary legal aid because it involves legal representation, legal advice, mediation, and legal counseling. While secondary legal aid involves human rights training, legal awareness, law reform, legal research, and advocacy (Yusuf et al., 2017). Legal aid service provision is administered using different models among which include the Judi care model, state attorney model, and a community legal clinic model.  The Judi-care model concerns the provision of legal services by a private lawyer and law firms whereas in the attorney model, a lawyer is employed and gets a monthly salary. Whereas in the community legal clinic model, a variety of legal services are provided to a specific community by agencies. It is observed in developed countries that it is the duty of the state to provide legal aid services in the national budgetary allocations for the justice sector. While in the developing world, the provision of legal aid services has largely been left to civil society organizations and NGOs that rely on external donations (Langat et al., 2020.

Available literature indicates that different states employ different models of legal aid provision although a good number of them use a mixture of these models. In the United States, for example, a Legal Service Corporation was created to provide federal funding for legal aid services. The federal government and some states have offices of public defenders that assist indigent defendants, while other states have systems for outsourcing the work of private lawyers. This is however limited to criminal cases. Legal aid for civil cases on the other hand is provided by public interest law firms and community legal aid clinics, which very often impose income and resource ceilings as well as restrictions on the types of cases they will take on because there are always too many potential clients and limited resources (Loren, 2012).

In England and Wales, legal aid is administered by the Legal Services Commission and is available for most criminal cases, as well as many types of civil cases.  Whereas criminal legal aid is generally provided through private firms of solicitors and barristers in private practice, civil legal aid is provided through solicitors and barristers in private practice but also non-lawyers working in law centers and not-for-profit advice agencies due to the limited number of public defenders (Burton, 2018).

In Australia, legal aid is mainly delivered through State and territory legal aid commissions (LACs), which are independent statutory agencies established under State and Territory legislation. The Australian Government funds the provision of legal aid for Commonwealth families, civil and criminal law matters under agreements with State and Territory governments and LACs. A grant of assistance legal representation may either be assigned to a salaried in-house lawyer or referred to a private legal practitioner. The Australian Government and most State and Territory Governments also fund community legal centers, which are independent, non-profit organizations that provide referral, advice, and assistance to people with legal problems. Additionally, the Australian Government funds financial assistance for legal services under certain statutory schemes and legal services for Indigenous Australians (McQuoid-Mason, 2018.).

Sanganyi (2017) conducted a study on challenges facing cash transfers for orphans and vulnerable children program: The case of Kasarani, Nairobi, Kenya. The findings showed that orphans are more likely to be cared for by households – those that have the means to take on, feed, and educate additional members if there is a guarantee of additional support, like the OVC-CT program. The study recommended that a number of policy initiatives need to be reviewed and clarified, and guidelines for implementation and enforcement need to be drawn up and disseminated to the relevant authorities. Key policy areas that need attention include inheritance rights; access to education, medical services, and accommodation.

Gitobu (2012), studied implications of cash transfer programs for social relations: Kenya’s Cash Transfer for orphans and vulnerable children. The study found that the program has resulted in social capital gains within beneficiary communities; it has also had perverse effects that have simultaneously engendered threats to social cohesion. The negative outcomes are largely seen to emanate from program processes, particularly the small percentage of households targeted. Ultimately, the study highlights the necessity for directing focus towards a comprehensive social protection system with a universal orientation to maximize the benefits of transfer programs. Meanwhile, there is a need to expand the evaluative space to take cognizance of the range of impacts engendered by such programs, including relational outcomes.

2.2 The  challenges that NGOs face while supporting OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative

The number of orphans in the world would be declining if it were not for HIV/AIDS (World Health Organization, 2019).  By 2010 UNICEF estimates the number of children orphaned by AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa to reach 15.7 million. The UN states that “the worst is yet to come”, as young adults now living with HIV eventually develop AIDS and die, they will leave behind a large number of orphans (Guo, and Sherr, 2012). The number of orphans generally increases with age, hence older orphans greatly outnumber younger ones (Kibachio, and Mutie, 2018.).  These children will suffer long before they lose their parents.  These orphans and vulnerable children may miss their education as they may be taken out of school to care for their sick parents. This is especially a problem for girls as they are often the first ones to be given the responsibility of caring for the sick. Studies show that in addition to being deprived of their education,   these children often live in households with less food security and have a higher risk of suffering from anxiety and depression (Nannan et al., 2019). Orphaned children may also be forced to relocate and in this process lose their social networks and the community they are familiar with (UNICEF, 2008). There is no doubt that the children orphaned by AIDS and the problems they face need attention and solutions. However, this focus on children orphaned by AIDS has put the suffering of orphans of other reasons in the shadow (Kibachio, and Mutie, 2020), as donor and aid campaigns have often been directed at solely helping children orphaned by AIDS.

Inequality is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon. Kibachio and Mutie, (2018) believe that inequality is multi-dimensional to the extent that conventional studies can hardly exhaust its many forms. The negative impacts of inequality are numerous on many segments of society but have a great impact on women and children. Interrelated social, cultural, political, and economic forces that have in recent times over-stretched the coping capacities of families, communities, and governments fuel the above disturbing trend. The family, being the index socialization agent and a safety net for the care and support of the underprivileged including orphans and vulnerable children, no longer performs its functions. This has led to a number of implications for the children, the communities, and society. Vulnerable children have less access to nutrition, health care, and education. In addition, a report of the Rapid Assessment Analysis Action Planning (Kibachio, and Mutie, 2020) indicates that a vulnerable child is less likely to enroll in school, and more likely to drop out of school to engage in risky sexual behavior, and engage in substance abuse. Often such children are exposed to abuse, exploitation, and social exclusion.

Child Rights Protection issues cover a wide range of areas bordering on obligations of, all levels and tiers of government, parents, families, communities, civil society groups, and, other stakeholders, to orphans and vulnerable children in the society. Kibachio, and Mutie, (2018). Observes that obligations to observe, respect, promote and protect the survival, development, protection, and participation of OVC’s rights are grossly lacking when viewed against the various manifestations of child abandonment, exposure to moral danger, maltreatment, abuse, and all forms of exploitation in Nigeria. It was observed that OVCs are vulnerable to victimization and child trafficking, ritual killings, drug abuse, sexual/labor, economic exploitations, and recruitment as agents of destruction in times of civil disturbance. Given these situations, OVCs are deprived of their rights to life, human dignity, qualitative and quantitative education, health and access to health care services, growing up within a family with care, love and affection, and a safe or secure environment free from neglect, violence, exploitation and all forms of abuse (Cheney, 2017).

There are over 12 million orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa, where it is estimated that 9% of all children have lost at least one parent to AIDS (Stover et al., 2007). The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF, 2008) estimated that the number of OVC in sub-Saharan Africa would climb to more than 16 million orphans and vulnerable children by 2011. In Kenya alone, it is estimated that there are 1,100,000 Orphans, with a similar number in South Africa, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zimbabwe (Kibachio, and Mutie, 2018). This is a relatively high number as it comprises almost 10% of all children in Kenya (Petrowski, Cappa, and Gross,  2017), The same report also suggested that the heaviest concentrations of both vulnerable children and children orphaned by AIDS lie in the age segment 10-14 years old (48.6% for boys and 46.8% for girls).

A child who loses one or both parents to AIDS holds a high chance to be infected with HIV.  Orphans often find themselves battling the very disease that took their parents (World Health Organization, & UNICEF, 2010). Orphans are also at greater risk of malnourishment and stunted growth. Young orphans, healthy or not, are often forced into adult roles long before they should be. Always the eldest child who loses parents to HIV/AIDS might carry the heavy responsibility of caring for siblings. The loss of one or both parents has serious consequences for a child’s access to necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, health, and education. Many Orphans find they need to contribute financially to the household, in some cases driving them to the streets to work, beg or seek food. AIDS orphans often leave school to attend to ill family members, work, or look after young siblings. Many children already function as heads of households and as caregivers and need support as part of the solution (Ochumbo, Lumiti, and Syano, 2017).

2.3 The  strategies to curb the challenges NGOs face while supporting OVC resilience at Reach out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative.

It is assumed in international social work and children’s rights is that families are the best place for children’s rights and well-being to be observed. The duty of a state is to support families in doing this by providing accessible social services and social protection (Articles 18, 26, and 27 particularly), as well as ensuring the integrity of the family (as, for example, in Articles 7, 8, 9 and 10). The role of social networks of families in looking after parentless children is immense. In sub-Saharan Africa, the extended family system has for generations met most of the basic needs of children and provided a protective social environment in which they could grow and develop (Tataryn et al., 2017). Children are purposefully sent to live with relatives in normal times for reasons that are different from resolving the problems of orphanhood and child destitution, In periods of crisis, kinship systems have dictated various social, economic, and religious obligations towards the family lineage, as well as the social and material rights of the parentless children within the lineage. Consequently, after the death of the biological parents, the continued care of a child within the extended family has been guaranteed (Bakrania, Ghimire, and Balvin, 2018).

These children have been taken care of by extended family system but there are still many that are left on their own. In Africa, the functioning of the extended family system is changing. They have for generations functioned as a safety net for orphans and vulnerable children, but due to modernization, this is changing. Migration to urban areas creates a distance between people and their extended family as well as they tend to lose their feeling of responsibility toward more distant family members. The growing idea of the nuclear family also contributes to the notion of the family consisting of mainly a mother, father, and children, leaving out “the rest”. Poverty is also a major reason why orphans are rejected by their extended families. The share number of orphans is becoming too much to handle for poor households. They simply do not have the resources to care for them. The children that have been taken in by their extended families sometimes risk abuse and neglect but because of poverty, they also risk being sent out to steal or practice prostitution. The latter is especially a problem for the girl child. Some children are denied access to basic education, proper healthcare, and nutrition. At the community level, various community groups have developed a wide range of responses through their own initiative as well as support from NGOs working in their locality (Ochumbo, Lumiti, and Syano, 2017).

However, the number of orphans in many African countries is increasing rapidly, placing a heavy strain on traditional childcare within families and kinship systems. A careful analysis of the research on the capacity and sustainability of extended families points to two polarized theories of care (Abebe and Aase 2007 for details on this). The first theory is captured by the ‘social rupture thesis’, in which the traditional family structure is seen as being either overstretched or as having collapsed so that it is no longer considered capable of coping with the burden of caring for orphans (e.g. Guest 2003; Kalebba 2004; UNICEF 2004). This perspective is typified mainly by international organizations like UNICEF (2001), which argue that contemporary orphanhood has outstripped the capacity of African societies to offer any form of alternative care, leaving growing numbers of children to fend for themselves:

During the mid-1980s, there emerged another important approach, namely community-based care, as an alternative for taking care of orphans in the contexts of poverty and impoverishment. As noted above, the role of the state in the care of orphans in many parts of the world is minimal. Following independence from colonial rule, many African countries attempted to develop social welfare programs for disadvantaged social groups based on the Western, modern, welfare-state model. These programs were an outcome of the modernization theories that saw the increased institutionalization of poor children (orphans, abandoned children, street children, etc.) in foster homes and large-scale orphanages. The period also witnessed the expansion of schools and modern educational institutions. However, a lack of resources and reductions in social spending associated with foreign debt and structural adjustment programs significantly hindered these developments. With a recurrent civil war and economic recession, and increasing pressure from the state for taxes, organized charitable NGOs and institutions emerged. The functions of these NGOs have been to provide a home where infants are brought up, to serve as ‘alternative actors’ in welfare and development, and to revamp the failed role of the state in child protection.

Community-based care refers to local, community-driven care arrangements carried out with different levels or degrees of community ownership and participation (Ansell and Young 2004; Sanou et al. 2009). Like care by or within extended families, it draws on the resources and strengths of communities in mobilizing resources and takes on the responsibility of administering them (Harber no date; Kalanidhi 2004; White 2002). The approach is also driven by the principle that care should be endogenous, participatory, and needs-oriented and that it should fulfill the basic needs of families and households (Friedmann 1996; 36). Ansell and Young (2004) identify three variants of community-based care for orphans and vulnerable children: care within the community (i.e. not in institutions); care organized at the community level, where service provision (e.g. food, education, health care) is coordinated through the use of already existing traditional community institutions, and religious-based and village-based committees; and care by the community, where resources (time, labor, money) are mobilized from community members in order to support orphans (see Sanou et al. 2009). ‘Empowerment’ and ‘participation’ are unique features of community-based care, although as Skovdal et al. (2009) point out, they are both contested and are never straightforward approaches, since they problematically suggest the cooperation and cohesiveness of local community members and that there is an identifiable, stable community ready for participation (Ansell and Young 2004). As Campbell and Murray (2004) further note, residents of geographical communities do not always share common identities and values. This could leave, for example, some community-based cash-transfer programs open to nepotism, especially if these approaches are scaled-up to address the rising demand for material interventions (Skovdal et al. 2009).

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The numbering. Refer to this:

In chapter three endevour to answer the following questions:

1. What (What is that method, techniques concept you are studying based on different authors? Meaning in-text cite)
2. Why (The reason as to why you are using that concept, method, technique).
3. How (How you are going to use the method designed to be used eg. if the data collection is interviews – how? Would be the interview guide for the data collection tool/instrument).

Follow the arrangement below for chapter three:

• Introduction
  • Research Design
  • Area of the Study
  • Population of the Study
  • Sample Size
  • Sampling Techniques
    • g Purposive Sampling
    • g Stratified Sampling
  • Data Collection Methods and Tools

3.6.1

3.6.2

3.6.3

3.7 Quality Control

3.7.1 Validity

3.7.2 Reliability

3.8 Data Analysis

3.9 Ethical Consideration

3.10 Limitation of the Study

References

Appendices

Appendix I

Appendix II

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