Presented at RENEWAL’s Satellite Session "Nutrition Security, Social Protection and HIV: Operationalizing Evidence for Programs in Africa" at the XVIII International AIDS Conference. By Jacqueline Oduol, presented by Margaret Wagah

1. Presentation by
Prof Jacqueline Oduol
Secretary Children’s Affairs
Ministry of Gender, Children & Social
Development - KENYA

2.  Kenya population- 38 million (2005 Kenya National
Bureau of statistics - estimates);
 19.4 million (51.7%) are children of which 5.56
million are under 5;
 Population living below poverty line is 46% ;
 Provinces / administrative regions – 8;
 HIV/AIDS prevalence – 7.8 % (Kenya AIDS Indicator
Survey 2007);
 Orphans -2.5 million (2005 UNICEF estimates);
 48% of the Orphans due to HIV related cases;

3.  Stigma & discrimination due to HIV/AIDS orphan hood;
 Increased vulnerability to all forms of abuse and exploitation
i.e. neglect, sexual abuse, child labor, child trafficking,
physical and emotional Abuse;
 Psychological stress and trauma due to loss of parent;
 Limited access to basic needs such as food, health care among
many others;
 Increase in child (sibling) and elderly (grand parents) headed
households;
 Reduced opportunities for Education as children drop out of
schools to assume adult roles;
 Disinheritance upon the death of the parents.

4.  Over
stretched traditional coping
mechanisms;
 Reduced productivity at Household level;
 Increasednumber of neglected, abandoned
and street children;
 Increasedgovernment expenditure on care
and treatment of persons living with and
affected by HIV;

5.  HIV and AIDS destabilizes livelihoods, & community
& family safety nets
 Social protection—provides reliable systems of
social assistance, insurance, and services—can
break the vicious circle of poverty, food insecurity,
& AIDS
 HIV and AIDS leads to food insecurity and
malnutrition
◦ Undermining livelihoods; decreasing food intake; increasing
malabsorption ,metabolic alterations, energy requirements
 Food insecurity and malnutrition heighten
susceptibility to HIV exposure and infection

6. Protective Preventative Promotional Transformational
Secure basic Reduce Enable people to Build, diversify, and Transform
consumption fluctuations in save, invest, and enhance use of
institutions
consumption accumulate assets
and avert and
through • Reduce access
asset constraints relationships
reduction reduction in risk • Economic
• Directly provide or
and income loan assets • Political
variation • Build linkages with • Social
institutions
• Public works
•Unconditional • Insurance (e.g. health,
cash transfers asset)
Conditional cash • Livelihoods support
• Food Transfers • Savings and credit
transfers
Conditional food
transfers • Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition
• Child and adult education/skills
• Early childhood development
(Source: Adato
and Bassett 2008)

7. Policies and strategies in place include:
 National Children Policy ;
 Children’s Act 2001;
 National Plan of Action on Orphans and Vulnerable Children
(OVC);
 National Social Protection policy and Strategy drawn from
the National vision 2030;
 Sectoral / ministries documents i.e. Ministry of Heath,
Ministry of Education.
 Food and Nutrition Security Policy

8.  National Steering Committee on OVC;
 Department of Children’s Services;
 OVC Secretariat was established at the
Department of children services;
 Provincial & District Children’s Offices;
 Area Advisory Councils/ Locational Advisory
Councils;
 Locational OVC Committees;
 Statutory Children’s Institutions.

9. i) Health-
- Free ART
- Free treatment for children under 5 years
ii) Nutrition:
Food by Prescription / CMAM
WFP food assistance
Livelihood strategies
Micronutrient supplementation Programs
School Feeding programs
ii) Education
- Free primary Education
- Subsidized secondary school education
- Bursary for higher education

10.  Strengthening the capacity of Households to
take care of OVC;
I) Cash Transfer programs to support poor
households and the elderly persons taking care
of Orphans and Vulnerable Children;
II) Training OVC caregivers on child rights,
protection and participation;
III) Providing psychosocial support to OVC
households.

11.  Currently the program covers 47 districts in
the country and plans are underway to scale up
to 60 districts;
 The number of beneficiary households under
the program is 82,000;
 The transfer value is US$ 20 per month;
 Eligibility criteria for households :
I. Extremely poor household
II. Households must be taking care of OVC
III. should not be already in a similar program.

12.  GOK
 National OVC Steering Committee
 UNICEF
 World Bank
 DFID

13. OVC Our Collective Responsibility
Plan and budget for their
well being