By Wezi Tjaronda
WINDHOEK
Child deaths are likely to increase because of the high HIV prevalence rate, UNICEF has warned.
Owing to the high HIV prevalence rate of 19.9 percent in 2006, which is the fifth highest in the world, UNICEF said the proportion of deaths of children is likely to increase by 20 percent and that there would be a three to 10-fold increased risk in death by surviving children because of maternal deaths.
This emerging orphan crisis, said UNICEF Deputy Representative Madhavi Ashok, would require increased responses for another 20 years. The responses, Ashok said, should include lobbying for prioritization of resources to respond effectively to the looming crisis and preparation of child sensitive policies to ensure that every child is counted in interventions made.
She was speaking at the Church Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) annual general meeting yesterday.
Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Marlene Mungunda and CAFO Chairman Wilfred Diergaadt said Namibian children are in need.
She said despite constitutional, legal provisions and abundant national resources, Namibia children were in need.
“Our children are in need of safety and security, they are in need of homes and above all, notwithstanding the importance of material needs, they have the need for belonging,” she said.
Mungunda called on the church movement to seek solutions for the numerous problems that face the children.
Statistics say orphan numbers increased from an estimated 27 500 in 1991 to 167 000 in 2006, which has overwhelmed the capacity of traditional safety systems that used to cope with their needs.
The norm was that after the death of a parent, relatives would take in most of the orphans. But with the pandemic, households are becoming larger and dependency rates are growing, resulting in dwindling resources.
Ashok said this situation needed strengthened collaboration among government, civil society, religious organisations and partners to ensure that response is targeted.
Diergaardt said in his report of 2005-2006 there were an increased number of orphans that could not compete their education and ended up with no work.
Diergaardt noted that programmes did not always target the most vulnerable families, some of whom fail to obtain birth documentation for their children.
“Lack of proper birth documentation among many children and the deaths of their guardians are a huge impediment in ensuring that all these children have the right to a name and entitlements such as social welfare grants and school enrolments,” she said.
The Demographic and Health Survey of 2000 said only 71 percent of births were registered.
Reasons for failure to register children include distances from facilities, lack of knowledge among others or caregivers and procedural hurdles on identity documents of the father.
According to CAFO, many children still lack the basic necessities and are not receiving an education because of worsening poverty due to HIV/AIDS.
The meeting was held under the theme “A call on Churches – Namibian Children are in need”.