UNICEF Children and AIDS newsletter

UNICEF is pleased to announce the new and improved online global Children and AIDS Newsletter. This interactive, dynamic and user-friendly format has been created to better support you in your daily work on HIV and AIDS issues.

In each issue you will find the following sections:

• News: Launches, highlights, new funding initiatives and opportunities
• Programmatic Updates: New information on major initiatives
• Innovations and experiences: Contributions from Regional and Country Offices, which focus on innovative approaches and projects
• Recent events: Conferences, workshops, round tables, etc.
• Tools and Resources: New publications, policy briefs, research findings, etc.

The redesigned newsletter also offers some new features, including:

• Redesigned branding, in line with the Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS Campaign
• A format with a commenting ability for the readers
• An archiving feature, allowing readers to easily search and access articles from previous editions
• A subscription feature, which notifies readers when a new issue is available

Working paper - children living with and affected by HIV in residential care

HIVandResCare_FinalWeb.pdf

In many countries, significant numbers of children are temporarily or permanently cared for in residential care. Evidence suggests that the phenomenon of residential care has been growing in recent years due to a complex interplay of different factors, among them HIV and AIDS. To date, there is no systematic information on the numbers of children living with or directly affected by HIV who are placed in residential care, the reasons for and the impacts of their placement on individual children, their families and communities and on the residential care facilities themselves.

This paucity of data makes it difficult to monitor the success of efforts to support family-based care, prevent separation and promote reunification for all children, including those affected by HIV. It also impairs efforts to ensure that children living with HIV in residential care are able to access HIV-specific services that are supportive and appropriate.

This is a working document which will be continually updated. If you have information and evidence to share, or questions on this report, please email: policy@everychild.org.uk

Good practice guide: Family-centered HIV programming for children

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Save the Children have developed a good practice guide aimed at providing information, strategies and resources to help HIV programmers implement family-centred HIV programming for children.

This guide aims to:

Increase understanding of the benefits of a family-centred approach to providing care and services for children affected by HIV,

Show how a family-centred approach can complement and improve the impact of services such as health, education and social welfare provided directly to children,

Assist programmers to apply a family-centred approach in programmes providing services to children affected by HIV,

Support advocacy for family-centred approaches to programmes that provide care, support and treatment for children affected by HIV.

The guide is available here.

Namibia National Agenda for Children 2012-2016

Namibia's National Agenda for Children 2012-2016

The Namibia National Agenda for Children 2012-2016 is a call to action to put the constitutional mandate on the rights of children into implementable strategies. The Agenda is anchored on five pillars: health and nourishment; early childhood development and schooling; HIV prevention, treatment, care and support; adequate standard of living and legal identity; and protection against neglect and abuse.

The importance of Namibia developing its first-ever National Agenda for Children was highlighted through the publication of Children and Adolescents in Namibia 2010: A Situation Analysis, and through a review of the National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (2006-2010). Two critical issues were identified through these processes: that Namibia needed to adopt a multi-sectoral approach to planning and implementation towards child-centred development, and that we needed to look more broadly at the concepts of vulnerability and inequity through the lens of a child’s life cycle.

Through a broad-based consultative process which involved government, NGOs, civil society organisations, children and development partners, the national commitments for children were identified, discussed and prioritised. While these five-year commitments have been integrated into current sector policies and plans to a large extent, the National Agenda for Children brings them together concisely, which will enable all stakeholders to plan, implement and monitor their actions for children in a coordinated manner. The Agenda also serves as a major contribution to overall national development planning processes.

While the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare has been assigned the task of facilitating the development of the national agenda for children, the primary responsibility for ensuring that is is implemented lies with the line ministries and their partners.

Guidelines for counselling and testing children for HIV

HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) is the most important entry point for HIV-related treatment, care, support and prevention. A significant number of children in South Africa live with HIV. According to figures provided by the Department of Health, an estimated 32 940 children under 15 years of age were living with HIV and AIDS but were not on treatment." These facts highlight that every effort must be made to facilitate HIV testing in this population within the framework of applicable legislation and policy. Once tested, children can be placed on treatment, and linked to care and support.

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), through the SA National AIDS Council (SANAC), was commissioned to provide technical support to the Department of Health to ensure implementation of the goals for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) as set out in the 2006-2011 National Strategic Plan on HIV, STIs and TB (NSP). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided the funding for this initiative.  

Through an extensive consultative process with key staff from the Department of Health, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), civil society, non-governmental organisations, academics, policy makers and practitioners working with children more generally and in HIV/AIDS specifically, the HSRC led the development of a series of implementation guidelines and training tools, dealing with the legal, ethical and counselling issues related to HIV testing of children.

This package of tools include: a trainers' manual, participants' manual, legal guidelines for implementers, as well as counselling and testing implementation guidelines.

To download these tools, go to: http://www.hsrc.ac.za/Media_Release-444.phtml

Good practice guide: Family-centered HIV programming for children

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Save the Children have developed a good practice guide aimed at providing information, strategies and resources to help HIV programmers implement family-centred HIV programming for children.

This guide aims to:

Increase understanding of the benefits of a family-centred approach to providing care and services for children affected by HIV,

Show how a family-centred approach can complement and improve the impact of services such as health, education and social welfare provided directly to children,

Assist programmers to apply a family-centred approach in programmes providing services to children affected by HIV,

Support advocacy for family-centred approaches to programmes that provide care, support and treatment for children affected by HIV.

The guide is available here.