Orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia: 2004 situation analysis

This report is a second Situation Analysis of Zambia’s orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), since 1999. It documents progress since the last report, and emphasises the challenges that remain. The report is structured as follows:

-the socio-economic situation of OVCs in Zambia
-family responses and coping: changes in how urban and rural communities and families are responding to the crisis: including female-headed households, grandparents as parents, extended families
-street children and child-headed households
-education, health, earning a living, and stigmatisation
-government, NGOs, FBOs, donors, communities: responses, achievements and challenges.

The paper concludes that whilst there have been some significant achievements and progress towards an improved response to the OVC crisis at the local and national level including improved policy and legal framework, and coordination activities, Zambia has a growing number of OVCs, many of which are living in very vulnerable households and some living without any parent or caregiver.

In particular, poverty and HIV/AIDS have combined to produce a crisis of unprecedented scale; basic services are difficult to access, and many orphans and vulnerable children do not have secure access to food, shelter or care. Zambia’s children do not enjoy the rights agreed to in the CRC, or by the Government and the international community.

The main recommendations from the report include:

-government should provide adequate legal and regulatory protection for OVC
-provide universal access to ARV therapy
-improve access to quality education and training
-introduce social protection programmes to protect and promote the livelihoods and
-welfare of especially vulnerable households.