Achievements and Implications of Care and Support Programme among Orphaned and Vulnerable Children: A Systematic Evaluation of HAF II Project in Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Kogi State recognizes the necessity of meeting the needs of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) with compassionate care as a result broad range vulnerabilities faced by these children and their families. This paper therefore presents achievements and implications of care and support programme among OVC in Kogi State, Nigeria Methods: Five civil society organizations were engaged by Kogi State Agency for the Control of AIDS under HIV/AIDS fund (HAF) II project to provide care and support services for OVC. A total of 3700 OVC were reached with this intervention and selection of participants was done using purposive sampling. Data collected using data collection and reporting tools were entered on DHIS2 platform and later exported into and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Results: Out of the total of 3700 OVC enrolled in this project, 114 (3.1%) were lost to follow up, 138 (3.7%) voluntary withdrawn from the project and 295 (8.0%) died. The number of household heads provided with economic support was 760. Among these, 60.9% were supported in 2015. A total of 192 children were also provided with economy strengthening services, 3367 were provided with educational access. In 2015 alone, a total of 1920 representing 51.9% of the total population were provided with nutritional support, 808 children were provided with protection services while 116 were provided shelter. Conclusion: Programming for children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS will contribute to the achievement of an AIDS-free generation by responding to the social (including economic) and emotional consequences of the disease on children, their families, and communities that support them. Scale-up of this intervention is therefore recommended.

Care and Support Programmes for Orphans and Vulnerable Children: Achievements and Implications of HIV/AIDS Funded Project in Osun State, Nigeria

“…The increased trend in the number of OVC recruited into the programme yearly is similar with the findings of a study among the OVC in Kogi State, Nigeria [13], however there was a huge disparity in the number of enrolled OVC uploaded on the DHIS 2 platform and the number of OVC supported by the CSOs from their response during the interview. Most of the enrolled children were provided with minimum of one care and support service.…”

“…Several evaluations have pointed out that home visiting programmes have a positive impact on the OVC when volunteers regularly visit the households and spend adequate time with the children, especially those at high risk for poor health outcomes who do not present at health centres [26]. As found in other State in Nigeria, the HPDP for OVC in Osun State provides several opportunities to improve access to health care services through prompt referral and appropriate linkage of the OVC to health facilities [13].…”

Combination prevention package of interventions for reducing vulnerability to HIV among adolescent girls and young women in Nigeria: An action research

“…A report from Kogi State, Nigeria, demonstrated significant success and achievement in using MPPI in an HIV prevention program. According to the study, out-of-school youths comprising male and female were recruited and trained as peer educators who carried out activities which included community dialogue, peer educators recruitment and training, distribution of condoms, and HCT [ 37 ]. Similarly, in another report from an intervention among in-school youths in Kwara State, Nigeria, the authors reported the effectiveness of MPPI programming, which addressed behavioral change through the combination of prevention interventions targeted at individuals and communities [ 36 ].…”

“…The MPPI operationalizes the combination prevention framework in Nigeria, using information about the drivers of the epidemic relating to various target populations, emphasizing dosage and intensity on interventions, and recognizing the processes of behavior change and structural and environmental influencers of behavior [35]. Several authors have successfully implemented HIV prevention interventions based on the MPPI strategy among in-school and out-of-school adolescents, including community mobilization, outreach, advocacy, and monitoring [36][37][38]. A report from Kogi State, Nigeria, demonstrated significant success and achievement in using MPPI in an HIV prevention program.…”

Effect of Developing Protocol of Care on Satisfaction of Bio-psychosocial Needs of Institutionalized School Age Orphans Children

“…Considering that, the school age period is highly important because it influences major changes and transitions in children's lives, choosing a lifestyle and the practices associated with it, play asignificant role in children's health and the outcomes affect their physical, psychological, and social performance and well-being. On the other hand, child's health in this period affect their long term health, development and well-being (46) . The role of community health nurses (CHN) can be effective in assessing the physical environment of the instituations and in promoting healthy behavioures and practices among the school age orphan children through applying continuous training for children and their caregiveres.…”