Rethinking orphanhood and vulnerability in Ethiopia

Abstract

'Orphans' became a category of vulnerable children deserving special protection in the context of the global AIDS epidemic, and currently the notion of 'Orphans and vulnerable children', or 'OVC', dominates much of the policy for protecting children across sub-Saharan Africa. Analysis of survey and qualitative data from Young Lives in Ethiopia found that parental death does not guarantee the often assumed negative impacts on children's experiences, and that inequalities between children are greater along dimensions of poverty and household location, compared to orphan status. 'OVC' obscures poverty as a main source of child vulnerability and is therefore an outdated approach.

Parental death as a vital conjuncture? Intergenerational care and responsibility following bereavement in Senegal

“…Indeed, interviews with adult relatives, religious and community leaders in rural areas suggested that young people who had lost their parents were rarely considered 'orphans', but rather were regarded as ordinary members of the extended family. Close, loving family relationships and continuity in living arrangements may help to reduce the potentially negative emotional and material impacts of parental death on young people, as research in other contexts has shown (Crivello and Chuta 2012;Evans and Becker 2009). Vital conjunctures: reconfiguring intergenerational care and familial responsibilities in different spatial and temporal contexts…”

“…The vulnerability of orphaned children compared with non-orphaned children in Africa has been increasingly questioned (Meintjes and Giese 2006). For example, while parental death impacted on children's educational outcomes and psychosocial well-being in Ethiopia, the quality of children's care relationships with family members and their economic security were more significant factors (Crivello and Chuta 2012). Hewlett's (2005) study among Aka and Nganda adolescents in the Central African Republic emphasises the need to understand the socio-cultural meanings of age, gender and family relations in young people's responses to death.…”

Children As Caregivers : The Global Fight Against Tuberculosis and HIV in Zambia

“…Still, orphans remain a prime focus. In a review of UNICEF publications from the years 1996 to 2010, Crivello and Chuta (2012) found that the number of publications tagged as "orphan" rose from 2 publications in 1996 to 610 in 2010. In George, the addition of vulnerability made few waves in services, which were already minimal, and mostly filled by nongovernmental organizations.…”

“…25. See Ansell (2016), Crivello and Chuta (2012), and Meintjes and Geise (2006). To address funding gaps, the category has been broadened to orphans and vulnerable children, or OVC.…”

“…I borrow this phrase from Meintjes and Geise (2006). Crivello and Chuta (2012) refer to orphans as the embodiment of child vulnerability. See also Ansell (2016) for an examination of why Western observers have focused so heavily on orphans within the HIV crisis in sub-Saharan Africa.…”