“Globally 14 million children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS. By 2010, this number could reach 25 million. To make matters worse, 10 million young people (aged 15-24) and three million children under the age of 15 are already living with HIV”.
What is the exact number of orphans due
to AIDS in Ethiopia?
It was around 540 thousand in 2004. But that
may be higher at present.
How many are receiving food aid from
WFP?
Some 11,359 AIDS orphans and vulnerable
children are receiving food support under the
urban HIV/AIDS intervention. In addition,
many more are being supported in the rural
areas under the school feeding project, but
we do not register them separately.
How is the distribution done? Especially
for those who cannot come to the food
distribution centre?
They have beneficiary ID Cards. When they
cannot come, they send someone else with
the ID.
*Do you have a home based assistance
programme? If so who does it and how is
it organized?
WFP does not run a home based care program
but the nutrition support is linked with
existing home based care activities being provided
by implementing partners. WFP support
the home based care activities of our
partners by providing funds for training of
home based care volunteers and for provision
of home based care kits. We particularly reinforce
the nutrition component of these trainings
and create awareness among partners
regarding the importance of nutrition in the
home based care service. The trainings are
organized by the implementing partners, i.e.
government as well as NGOs. The actual day
to day running of the home based care service
such as the recruitment of the volunteers
and their daily follow up and support is being
done by the 30 NGOs and CBOs implementing
the project.
What is the general trend? Is it increasing,
decreasing and/or levelling off?
Studies conducted by the International
Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in
Ethiopia, indicates that the country is
now where Southern Africa was in the
mid 1990s. We should be aware that now
is the time to act if we do not want to be
in the position the Southern African
countries are in now.
While in Ethiopia so far HIV/AIDS is
mainly an urban phenomenon, hence the
focus of WFP’s activities in urban areas,
the prevalence in rural areas is also on
the increase. When you consider the huge
population base (more than 77 million)
this has serious implications. In terms of
the number of people living with
HIV/AIDS Ethiopia is the 6th in the world.
It is, however, important to recognise
that the Ethiopian Government has
declared HIV/AIDS a national emergency
and the effort to reverse the situation has
intensified by all stakeholders.
Orphans affected by HIV and AIDS are
often deprived of education, because they
are discouraged and stigmatized by
society. Do WFP’s HIV and AIDS feeding
programme encourage these children to
continue their education?
WFP Ethiopia did an Annual Result Survey on the
urban HIV/AIDS project at the end of 2004. We saw
a decline in the rate of drop outs and an increase in
the number of enrolments and attendance among
beneficiary OVCs compared to the baseline data.
This was made possible due to the complementarity
achieved between the food support of WFP and
the education support of The Global Fund. The
combination of the nutrition and educational material
support has helped to draw more vulnerable
children to school and also keep them there.
Do you provide assistance to pregnant
women with HIV/AIDS and to the
prevention of mother to child
transmission (PMTCT) programme?
We provide nutritional support to HIV positive
pregnant and nursing women within the PMTCT
program of the government. We are planning to
role it out to more sites in 2006. Furthermore, we
have a supplementary feeding programme targeting
malnourished mothers and children in rural areas
and it is assumed that a certain proportion of these
beneficiaries are HIV/AIDS positive.
Do you interact with other organizations
that are doing similar work in the area? If
so how do you collaborate?
We work closely with Alert Hospital as they provide
ART for chronically sick beneficiaries of WFP. As for PMTCT, we collaborate with Regional Health Bureaux, Health Centres
and hospitals providing a PMTCT service.
Would you say that the seriousness of HIV/AIDS is well covered
by the State Media, e.g. Radio, TV and newspapers?
Yes. But more needs to be done in terms of both the level and quality of coverage.
How could the media both State and privately owned be
encouraged and supported to improve the coverage of HIV/AIDS
both in quantity and quality?
The correct and adequate coverage of HIV/AIDS concerns by the media is an
issue of both expertise and commitment. The UN has started providing training
to fill the expertise gap. We all need to work closely with journalists to increase
the visibility of HIV/AIDS as an issue which is of concern to everybody.
Would you say that another challenge might be how to avoid “AIDS fatigue” among supporters of HIV/AIDS and what would
be your advice to keep the momentum of support to continue?
There is a lot of support from donors and governments. Donor
Governments are still committed. But when you look at the population
in the donor countries, the focus on HIV/AIDS seems to
be viewed more and more as a developing countries’ issue. We
are not faced with crises of running out of funds for HIV/AIDS
in the short term. In fact many agencies have an absorption
problem, though WFP still has capacity to absorp more funds
for nutrition support to HIV/AIDS.
To avoid the decrease of support:
a) There is a need for more information about HIV/AIDS in the western
countries.
b) The misperception that a cure is found is a misleading concept because
there is no cure to HIV/AIDS, only medicine to prolong one’s life.
c) The whole aspect of solidarity needs to be revisited. The donor
countries’ solidarity has to be packaged better. HIV/AIDS is a disease
without borders. It is unfortunate if a majority of people think it does
not affect them.
WFP has a training programme called “creating agents of
change” for its Headquarters employees. This is educating
employees on how to prevent HIV/AIDS when they are posted to
the field. Is there a plan to extend this programme to the WFP
local field staff and other care givers for HIV/AIDS orphans?
It is mandatory for all WFP staff to take HIV/AIDS training. Similar
training is given to care givers through WFP partners.
Would you like to pass any message to your readers through the
UN Special concerning HIV/AIDS orphans?
We would like to reinforce the resources issues raised earlier.
Responding to the ever increasing demand, WFP Ethiopia is trying to
triple the coverage of its HIV/AIDS program in 2006. We need donations
from all sources, Governments as well as the private sector. We
believe that we are doing a good job and we need support to sustain
and scale up the program.
*Tesfa Social and Development Association (TSDA)
TSDA is grass roots based Civil Society Organizations which was established
in 2000 and combines 26 community based organizations. It is
involved in HIV/AIDS orphans. They care for about 1,300 beneficiaries
which include chronically sick people with HIV/IDS as well as
HIV/AIDS and other orphans. Home based care is run by volunteers for
the community. The volunteers provide social and nutrition counselling
as well as follow up on school attendance by orphans. TSDA has an
agreement with WFP. WFP provides the food and TSDA distributes.
They are reporting on a monthly and quarterly basis. TSDA is also collaborating
with the Alert Hospital for those who need ART treatment.
They however mentioned that the food they get from WFP does not
always cover the needs as the beneficiaries continue to increase. There
is no other food donor with whom they can work. They however mentioned
that the food they get from WFP has saved several lives since
food is necessary for the adherence of ART. The beneficiaries also
mentioned that they receive nutritionally balanced food from WFP
through TSDA.
