The Crisis

Institutional Response Overwhelmed

In Africa’s poorest villages, HIV/AIDS, orphans and poverty are at overwhelming levels and support structures are very low. Institutional models of care, such as hospitals and orphanages, are overwhelmed and unable to cope with the sheer volume of needed care.

“The magnitude of orphans due to HIV/AIDS is so large that an institutional response — besides not being in the best interests of the child — will never be the answer. Orphanages for more than 14 million orphans simply cannot be built and sustained.” (UNAIDS, The Framework, 2004)

A child carying her sibling and visiting her sick mother in a clinic near Kabwe, Zambia.