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May 2003 Population Council Assists Mandela Children's Fund The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund was established in 1994 to provide for the safety, health, and survival of orphans and vulnerable children in Africa. War, famine, and the AIDS epidemic (see box on page 5) are putting African children at unprecedented risk. The Children’s Fund established the Goelama Project two years ago to use the experience gained in its other projects to create and test comprehensive, integrated approaches to the issues affecting orphans and other vulnerable children. Goelama means to safeguard and nurture the young and the vulnerable. The project seeks to improve the well-being of children from infancy to age 22 using a unique “holistic” approach. In addition to providing direct support to these children, Goelama seeks to strengthen households, to foster more integrated local governmental response, and to prevent child abuse and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The project uses the needs of the children as a basis for mobilizing entire households and communities in the search for sustainable solutions. At the request of and with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health and Horizons programs are providing technical assistance to evaluate Goelama’s effectiveness. Last year Development Research Africa completed baseline surveys assessing adolescents’ (1) reproductive health and puberty knowledge; (2) sexual behavior and contraceptive use among those sexually active; (3) views toward people living with AIDS; and (4) involvement in HIV/AIDS-related activities and personal experiences with sexually transmitted infections. The survey assessed household socioeconomic capacity to care for orphans and other vulnerable children and household respondents’ reproductive health knowledge and sexual behavior. A second set of surveys, to be conducted after programs have been implemented, will measure their effectiveness. Former South African president Nelson Mandela said last year, “We have reached such an advanced stage in the spread of the AIDS pandemic that there is almost no time left for merely feeling and thinking and talking. We are in the middle of a war that is wreaking havoc and destruction. Concrete action is what is required every day and every hour.” Evaluating the various approaches taken by cooperating Goelama partners will help the entire region develop effective programs that can be standardized and “scaled up.” The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, Horizons, and Frontiers will disseminate the research findings at local, national, and international workshops and conferences to aid efforts of those seeking to answer President Mandela’s call to action. Sidebar: "Children orphaned by AIDS" (full text) See Also
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