Young AIDS Migrants in Southern Africa

Summary

Southern Africa is the region worst affected by the global AIDS epidemic. Children are affected long before becoming orphans. Many young people migrate to join kin elsewhere, when household members are sick or die from AIDS, or distant relatives need their help. Despite the startling statistics, young people indirectly affected by AIDS have received relatively little attention. This has implications relating to DFID objectives, most notably concerning poverty, social cohesion and human rights.

The negative impact of HIV/AIDS on household security, of which children’s migration is both symptom and cause, has been identified as a serious threat to progress in poverty reduction. Furthermore, the Strategy Report – Education for All, expresses concern that the growing number of AIDS orphans is a significant challenge to achieving Universal Primary Education, especially in Africa. It is often in conjunction with migration from the family home that young people drop out of school. Enforced migration has been noted to reduce young people’s control over their own lives. It is thus vital to ascertain young people’s views on their situations and how they might best be supported. This research aims to: explore children’s migration as a context-specific response to AIDS; examine the nature and impacts of AIDS-related children’s migration; to inform policy responses to the AIDS epidemic and promote the voices of AIDS-affected children.