Benchmark assessment of orphaned and vulnerable children in areas of the Zambia Family (ZAMFAM) Project

Abstract

The U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and U. S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are supporting the Zambia Family (ZAMFAM) project to strengthen comprehensive, integrated service delivery and support to children living with, affected by, or vulnerable to HIV/AIDS in the Lusaka, Copperbelt, Southern, and Central Provinces of Zambia. ZAMFAM is scaling up activities on orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) in high-priority sites to provide services to 45,000 households and 225,000 vulnerable children each year. The objective of ZAMFAM is to improve the care and resilience of OVC and their households through child-and family-focused services. To inform that effort, Project SOAR conducted a benchmark survey among beneficiaries in the four provinces of the ZAMFAM program. The benchmark survey measured the status and conditions of OVC and their families. The findings outlined in this report provide a deeper understanding of the needs of OVC families and the gaps in service provision, as well as suggestions for strengthening care and support strategies for OVC in Zambia. METHODOLOGY The benchmark assessment was a cross-sectional survey of 2,034 ZAMFAM beneficiary OVC households in project target communities conducted in the Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces between May and July of 2016 (about a year after roll-out) and in the Central and Southern Provinces between September and October of 2016 (around the time of program initiation). Interviews were conducted with caregivers about themselves and any OVC in the household between the ages of zero and nine years. OVC in the household between the ages of 10 and 17 years were interviewed directly by the survey team. The study instrument was based on MEASURE Evaluation's "Child, Caregiver & Household Well-being Survey Tools for Orphans & Vulnerable Children Programs," and captured PEPFAR Core OVC Indicators, which are listed later in the report. The analysis in this report is descriptive, reviewing the PEPFAR essential and additional core OVC indicators. The study findings were disaggregated by province, age, sex, and residential status where appropriate. KEY FINDINGS The survey results indicate that more than nine out of ten caregivers were women. The mean age of caregivers was 43 years old. The high mean age of caregivers was driven by the substantial proportion of caregivers (32 percent) whose age was greater than 50 years. A significant percent (60 percent) of OVC caregivers were married or cohabitating with their spouse at the time of interview, with the remainder predominantly widowed (26 percent). Caregivers had modest education levels, with 5.9 mean number of years of completed schooling; marginally higher mean number of years completed was observed in urban areas. Slightly more than one in ten OVC caregivers had never attended school. The caregivers had difficulty reading even a simple sentence in their local language, with 33 percent not being able to read at all and 18 percent having difficulty reading. 2 ■ Benchmark assessment of ...

Sexual debut and risk behaviors among orphaned and vulnerable children in Zambia: which protective deficits shape HIV risk?

“…The project’s primary objective is to strengthen health and resilience of OVC, young people living with HIV, and their caregivers through a multi-sectoral service package, including: 1) combination socioeconomic interventions (e.g. village loans and savings groups), 2) food subsidies, 3) psychosocial support, 4) parenting workshops, and 5) community-based HIV care and treatment support ( Mbizvo et al, 2018 ; Project SOAR, 2019 ).…”

“…Eligible study participants resided in households supported by the ZAMFAM project and included adults (18 + years) who served as primary caregivers for OVC 17 years or younger. ZAMFAM-eligible OVC, conforming to the Zambian government’s classification, are children younger than 18 living in adverse conditions, including: HIV-positive status, disability, chronic illness, or household environments engendering significant physical or emotional stress threatening healthy development ( Mbizvo et al, 2018 ).…”