Orphans, vulnerable children and youth (OVCY) in South Africa experience severe negative outcomes from the effects and impact of HIV and AIDS, such as morbidity, malnutrition and the loss education opportunities, at higher rates than their peers. According to the 2011 mid-year population estimates from Statistics SA, there are 2.01 million orphans and 63,600 new HIV infections in children aged 0 - 14 years.
While signi ficant progress has been made by the South African government at a legislative and policy level, there is still much more to be done to address the substantial gap between children in need of health, social and educational services and those receiving them, particularly in marginalised and vulnerable communities.
HIVSA’s OVCY programme, funded by USAID/ PEPFAR, aims to support the Department of Social Development’s community-based model of care by capacitating community- based organisations (CBOs) in two ways: by strengthening their institutional capacity as well as their OVCY programming. In addition to improving management and governance of CBOs, the programme focuses on the areas of health, nutrition, child protection, household economic strengthening, psychosocial care and support, HIV and TB as well as strengthening adolescent programming at CBOs.
The CBOs are located in areas experiencing high HIV prevalence, high maternal mortality, and a high number of orphans and vulnerable children residing in households who are most at risk, and in distress. The areas of coverage are Soweto, Orange Farm and Sedibeng, which are all located within the province of Gauteng. These areas have a combined total population of 2.5 million and an estimated 300,000 OVCY that require services.