Challenges Faced by Households in Caring for Orphans and Vulnerable Children

South Africa has seen a rapid increase in HIV prevalence among the general population over the past 10 years, from less than one percent in 1990 to twenty percent in 2001 (UNDP 2002). As the HIV/AIDS epidemic increases, so do the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). In 2002, an estimated five million people (approximately 12 percent of the population) were living with HIV/AIDS (Steinberg et al. 2002). Because of the average 10-year period between infection and death, even if HIV prevalence declined rapidly, South Africa would still experience an increasing orphan burden for many years to come. Projections show that by 2010, 16 percent of all children in South Africa, will be orphans and more than 70 percent will be due to AIDS (Dennis, Ross, and Smith 2002).