Population Council Research that makes a difference

The South African Medical Research Council anticipates that by the year 2015 the number of children orphaned by HIV and AIDS will exceed five million. Currently nongovernmental organizations and government departments are providing appropriate services to meet the needs of orphans and other vulnerable children. However, both service providers and caregivers often are unable to identify appropriate or accessible service providers. A functional tool that provides information on both government and nongovernmental entities that address the needs of vulnerable children meets the specific objective of the National Action Plan 2006–2008 for Orphans and Vulnerable Children to provide a database of vulnerable children service providers.

In collaboration with the Department of Social Development (DSD), South Africa, and USAID/Southern Africa, the Council and its partners developed a national directory of service providers for vulnerable children. We collected information on and developed a database of more than 10,000 vulnerable children service providers registered with the DSD. This database will allow for efficient and effective updates of the directory following the Council’s handover to DSD at the conclusion of the project.   

Directory information, including district-level maps of vulnerable children service providers, are being disseminated via multiple channels, including hard-copy directories, the web, CD-ROMs, and a text message query system.

The Children Services Directory was officially launched in June 2011 in conjunction with the National Action Committee for Children Affected by HIV and AIDS Evaluation Workshop, and the 5th Southern Africa AIDS Conference in Durban. More than 2,000 delegates were reached between the two forums, representing hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children and their caregivers.

As of the end of July 2011, 18,000 hard copies and 3,000 CD-ROMs have been distributed.