In Ethiopia, the odds are stacked against children. The country ranks as one of the largest populations of orphans in the world: 13 per cent of children are missing one or both parents. This equates to around 4.6 million children - 800,000 of which were orphaned by AIDS. Children are also at risk of other perils. Famine, conflict, periodic droughts, food insecurity and other diseases are all threats that have claimed the lives of parents. What it all buckles down to however is that Ethiopia is a desperately poor country.
Despite being the second most populous country in Sub-Saharan Africa, its per capita income, at just $US220, is much lower than the average. Typically, half of all HIV-infected people contract the disease before the age of 25, developing AIDS and dying by the time they reach 35.
This leaves behind a generation of children - often referred to as the lost generation - who are raised by grandparents, other adult relatives or left on their own in child-headed households.
The loss of a parent to AIDS or other diseases and hazards can have severe ramifications for a child's access to basic needs such as shelter, food, health, education and clothing.Orphans are more likely to live in large, female-headed households where a large number of family members are dependent on fewer income earners. This shortage of income places additional pressure on orphans to contribute financially to the household, at times forcing them to work on the streets, where they can beg or seek food.
Street children are vulnerable to exploitation, including sexual abuse. Responsibility for performing housework, caring for siblings and the remaining ill or dying parent is also common. Orphans lack access to basic rights such as education, psychological support and supervision. At present, there is an acute shortage of government services assisting orphans. As a result, the main coping mechanism has been the extended family. But the ability of extended family members to support increasing numbers of orphans is being tested. AIDs is orphaning children so rapidly that their families can no longer cope.
In this poverty ridden country, families have a hard enough time coping for themselves, without the added pressure of caring for an orphan. Children whose parents are HIV-infected often suffer a deterioration in care and support, including emotionally negative changes in their lives. They can start to suffer neglect long before they are orphaned. After enduring the death of their parent, they are then forced to cope with a new living arrangement, with frequently insufficient support.
Anxiety, depression and anger were found to be more common among AIDS orphans than other children. These psychological problems can become more severe if a child is forced to separate from their siblings upon becoming orphaned. Children orphaned may forego proper schooling, or have their education interrupted or underperform in school. They are also stigmatised by their association with AIDs.