What data / graphs are available to visually display the issue?

There are currently 150 million orphans globally in 2015, including 40 million in Asia, 56
million in Africa, 10 million in the Caribbean, and 25 million in Eastern Europe and Asia.
However, some factors have not been accounted for– there are an estimated 1.2 million
children trafficked each year. Orphans without the protection of their parents are an easy
target for traffickers. Furthermore, tens of thousands of children recruited and forced to
fight in armies, many after seeing their own families killed by the same army that recruited
them.

Africa has both the highest number and highest share of orphaned children in the world.
What are the main factors fuelling this crisis? There are many reasons why a child might
become orphaned. However, it is often the build-up of various causes in order for a child to
become orphaned. This includes poverty, HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality, unwanted
pregnancies, war, and conflict. Above all else, poverty overwhelming increases the
likelihood of children becoming orphaned because parents are both more likely to get sick
and less likely to be able to treat illnesses. At a macro-level, improvised nations lack the
social welfare structures found in ‘developed nations’ that enable families to support
themselves to remain together. Globally, HIV/AIDs are responsible for 20 million child
orphans, of which 15 million are in Africa.

What help is available for these people?

For children who cannot be raised by their own families, an appropriate alternative family
environment should be sought in preference to institutional care which should be used only
as a last resort and as a temporary measure. Inter-country adoption is one of a range of care
options which may be open to children, and for individual children who cannot be placed in
a permanent family setting in their countries of origin, it may indeed be the best solution. In
each case, the best interests of the individual child must be the guiding principle regarding
adoption.

Children can be prevented from becoming orphans through sustainable community

development targeted at improving the overall health standards, food security and
livelihoods of individuals and communities. When tragedies strike, especially those involving
the loss of a parent, surviving parents and extended family members must be counselled
immediately and provided with rapid assistance to ensure their confidence in providing
continuing care of children. When children cannot remain with their natural family,
adoption into another safe, permanent and loving family is an appropriate response. Again,
within this option there is a ‘hierarchy of preferences’ that starts off by seeking out a family
from a child’s existing extended family and community circles, followed by a family from
that child’s country of birth, and finally, a family found through a well-monitored and
regulated system of international adoption.

What would you do to significantly improve their lives?

Africa is the most severely affected, accounting for more than 80 percent of those orphaned
as a result of AIDS. Without the care of parents or an appointed caregiver, children are likely
to face extraordinary risks of malnutrition, poor health, inadequate schooling, migration,
homelessness, and abuse. Strengthening existing family and community capacity to assist
orphans in Africa should be the first priority. Community support must be coupled with
support for education for orphans. Combining local and international responses to deliver
protection and services to all orphans and vulnerable children is critical. In addition, saving
the lives of parents through access to antiretroviral therapies in resource-poor countries in
conjunction with bold support for alleviation of poverty and education must be an integral
part of the global response to the orphan crisis in Africa.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the reality is that there are millions of orphaned children in our world
today who deserve nothing less than our greatest efforts. They are the most vulnerable and
marginalised group throughout all our society.