• Background and overview of possible interventions
• Young OVC in regular communities; orphans, disabilities, others
• Young OVC in communities in crisis; AIDS, conflict, social crisis

Assisting young OVC in “regular” communities: Orphans, children on the street, children living with disabilities and children affected by HIV/AIDS

OVC living in communities where the concentration of OVC is low can in some ways be privileged compared to those living in communities with a high concentration of OVC. For instance, the extended family systems may not yet be overstretched, and the chance to find a good foster family may therefore be better. There are also cases where stigma is much weaker vis-à-vis single cases of OVC, whereas in communities with many OVC they can easily be stigmatized and persecuted as a group with certain characteristics (e.g. street children).

But the opposite can also be the case. OVC in communities with a low concentration of OVC may face stigma based on ignorance and be seen as “more different” than they would be in a community with large-scale problems (e.g., deaf children are perceived as less intelligent in many communities with no experience with successful deaf people). Conversely, in areas with high density of certain OVC sub-groups there is a higher likelihood of finding or attracting specialized interventions tailored to the needs of a particular group (e.g., in post conflict situations there may be a broader base for promoting psychosocial projects), and a better potential for forming interest groups built around special needs (e.g., AIDS-networks).

ECD has a potential of reducing the gap between OVC and non-OVC by providing OVC with some of the benefits to which non-OVC have easier access. Unfortunately, fee-based ECD programs in many African countries have done just the opposite: they reflect the inequalities between children, or even contribute to widening the gap (see Helen Penn for CHIP with examples from Swaziland).

The harmful long-term effects of the discrimination and neglect often suffered by young OVC can be partly counteracted by contributing to promote their systematic inclusion. Regular ECD projects targeting poor children or poor communities more in general are a good start.

Examples. In Mali (Quality Basic Education Project), the World Bank supports an ECD component in a basic education project. As part of this component, the project commissioned a major study on the impact of HIV/AIDS on pre-school aged children under 6 affected by the disease. Such baseline studies inform the design of more inclusive strategies. The Eritrea Integrated ECD Project targets 560,000 children under 6 and 32,000 war orphans (more on these projects and other World Bank ECD initiatives can be found in the Directory of ECD Projects in Africa).

An ECD project targeting poor children or poor communities should:

(a) promote inclusion by:

(b) ensure equal participation by: