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

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

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

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

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

REFERENCES