One day...

One day in spring, a woman came
In my lonely woods,
In the lovely form of the Beloved.
Came, to give to my songs, melodies,
To give to my dreams, sweetness.
Suddenly a wild wave
Broke over my heart's shores
And drowned all language.
To my lips no name came,
She stood beneath the tree, turned,
Glanced at my face, made sad with pain,
And with quick steps, came and sat by me.
Taking my hands in hers, she said:
'You do not know me, nor I you--
I wonder how this could be?'
I said: 'We two shall build a bridge forever
Between two beings, each to the other unknown,
This eager wonder is at the heart of things.'

[...]

Rabindranath Tagore

Protecting the Vulnerable

With Christmas approaching at one of the many oratories scattered throughout Africa one can already sense the seasonal excitement reflected on children's faces. At least on those' that still have something to hope for and look forward to; a parent or distant relative, an aunt, uncle, a far-off cousin who still remembers, who still cares. Take them home they shall, if only for a few hours. But what about the vulnerable ones, orphaned by armed conflict, war, HIV/AIDS, those without a single relative remaining?

It was only by coincidence that they found out last Sunday afternoon that their mother passed away - two months earlier. AIDS. Two boys aged 6 and 9. Their case was by no means exceptional. Terminally ill parents can not feed their children, and a lack of care givers often forces those children to come to the streets.

According to a recent UNICEF report for Uganda, 65% of children fall under the category of OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children). Translated into numbers, there are more than 2.2 million orphans and nearly 8 million vulnerable children in Uganda today, with the greatest percentage of OVCs in the northern (80%, compared to the Kampala region's 42.3%) and north-eastern regions. Nearly half (48%) of the 2.2 million orphans have been orphaned due to AIDS, losing one or both parents to the pandemic.

Out of all regions in Uganda Karamoja carries much of the weight in the above statistics. In spite of renewed interest by the international community and ongoing expansion of agency operations, little progress was made recently to address some of the worst humanitarian and developmental indicators in the country - and indeed, the continent (UNICEF, 2008). Evidently the Moroto District Local Government, does not have a comprehensive understanding of who the OVC service providers are, the service coverage in terms of geographical reach and interventions, the number of OVC accessing services and gaps in service provision. Although there are some NGOs and CBOs who claim to be rendering services for OVC in the districts, some of these are not physically present on the ground and what they are really doing remains unknown. Last, but not least, the services provided for OVC are neither comprehensive nor coordinated, leading to scattered and fragmented interventions, which have very little impact on OVC.

Considering the above, there is a need for the following; for reinforcing HIV/AIDS interventions between the UN, its partners, governments, NGOs and the private sector, with an aim of increasing the protection, care and support of OVCs. Actions should focus on developing viable income-generation projects, credit and saving schemes for affected families, and strengthening the participation of children themselves, as well as community groups and related networks to provide quality essential services for orphans. In Karamoja, the focus should be to create a programmatic approach that creates both an epicenter of service delivery and mobile services to reach the hardest-to-reach.

In order for these actions to be effective they must be complemented by advocacy for increased global funding and resources especially earmarked for children. Involving the private sector in capacity building CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), boosting domestic and foreign private investments, as well as fostering better cooperation of the international community and public-private partnerships would ultimately contribute to poverty reduction, an increase in health and sanitation awareness, but also a decrease in MTCT (Mother-to-Child-Transmission).