Sustaining
Children and Families: Views after Bangkok
Two leading women working to strengthen support
for vulnerable children and fragile families have
published their impressions of the 15th International
AIDS Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand, during
July this year:
Linda Richter is the Executive Director of Child,
Youth and Family Development at the Human Sciences
Research Council (HSRC) and Honorary Professor
at the School of Psychology, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“Children were not a serious part of the
international AIDS agenda in Bangkok,” she
says, noting that although children were brought
in to sing and dance for the audience during official
ceremonies, very little was presented at the Conference
on the serious problems affecting children and
caregivers as a result of HIV and AIDS.
According to Prof Richter, there are three priorities
in children’s care that are central to interventions
for vulnerable children:
- All children must have at least one caregiver
devoted to their wellbeing;
- These caregivers must receive the support
they need to care effectively for the child
- The child and caregiver must be helped to
be part of families, schools, religious and
neighbourhood groups, and other communal efforts.
“We need to promote positive outcomes in
children. During my visits to hospitals, I have
been extremely disturbed by the distress of everyone
involved in caring for children infected with
HIV. Children are often unable to feed or soothe
themselves, caregivers are overwhelmed by their
own sorrow and the suffering of their children,
and staff hardly know where to turn in a situation
that is also very painful for them.” Prof
Richter believes that urgent attention must be
given to the care of sick and dying children,
not only because of their suffering, but because
we must show and share kindness and respect to
those facing the last months or hours of their
life.
 She
says it is fortunate that there is growing recognition
of the need to involve and acknowledge men in
the care and support of vulnerable children, and
of the dying. “Also, there is now a focus
on reproductive choices for men as a part of HIV
testing, based on the finding that men seldom
receive advice about fertility and fatherhood
issues. We as researchers and practitioners must
do more to assist men and women in bearing the
burdens of HIV and AIDS, and to strengthen the
extended family and community as part of protecting
children affected by the epidemic.”
Yvonne Spain is Director of the CINDI (Children
in Distress) Network, based in KwaZulu-Natal.
Reporting on the Bangkok AIDS Conference for the
ChildrenFIRST Journal’s September/October
2004 edition, she feels that although the need
for strong leadership in the struggle against
HIV/AIDS was stressed, the visible presence of
world leaders at the gathering was lacking, and
leadership concerning children’s issues
and participation was disappointing.
However, during an innovative “Meet the
Leaders” session, Ms Spain was able to raise
the following key issues:
- Early Childhood Development sites as critical
facilities for enabling older children, caring
for their younger siblings, to attend their
own schools and progress with their education
- The need to reward volunteer home-based caregivers
who offer their skills, time and energy at community
level
- Problems experienced by the CINDI Network
partner-members in accessing Global Fund money
for their work
- Children having formal housing bequeathed
to them, but having no income to pay for municipal
charges covering rates, electricity and water
bills
“In contrast to Durban and Barcelona [Conferences],”
writes Ms Spain, “youth leaders were visible
and vocal, calling for … meaningful engagement
with youth as equal partners, especially as 50%
of all new infections are occurring in young people
aged between 15 and 24. Ricky Tonbing (21) said,
‘Whenever there is a war, governments summon
their young people to fight. Now is the time they
should call on us to fight in the war against
HIV/AIDS’.” Ms Spain believes that
these words should be transformed into action
by all civil society organisations, so that young
people can serve as respected and resourceful
role-players in the formation of programme plans
and policies.
Regarding the strengthening of support for families
affected by the epidemic, Ms Spain sets out the
following challenges as priorities:
- The need to keep mothers alive and to achieve
the international goal of three-million patients
on anti-retroviral therapy by the year 2005
- Recognising community-based organisations
as crucial to the struggle against HIV/AIDS
and the need to fund and capacitate them adequately
- The provision of vocational training and
micro-finance for youth
- Gender empowerment and the acknowledgement
of men as agents for change, care and support
- Support and care for the elders
Linda Richter’s full editorial can be found
in the HIVAN website archives at http://www.hivan.org.za/edit_essays/August%202004.asp
.
Yvonne Spain’s article is published in ChildrenFIRST
Journal, September/October 2004, Vol. 8 No. 57,
Pages 26 – 28 and on the Children First
website at http://www.childrenfirst.org.za/
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