January 31, 2011: Orphans and other vulnerable children in the Kingdom of Swaziland make up one-fifth of that small nation’s population. Because it has one of the world’s highest HIV prevalence rates -- over 26 percent of people ages 15 to 49 are infected with the virus -- Swaziland’s dramatic portion of HIV-affected children may seem inevitable.

Yet despite Swaziland’s high numbers of at-risk children, predictions made by UNICEF in 2004 of a dire future for the impoverished country have not come true. According to IRIN, policies the government began putting in place over the last decade to improve child health and education mark a positive trend.

Child welfare agencies such as the National Children's Coordination Office under the Deputy Prime Minister's Office, and the Police Department's Domestic and Child Abuse Unit are relatively new, UNICEF’s Swaziland representative Jama Gulaid told IRIN. As well, in 2005 national law required all children to attend elementary school. Today, the government provides education grants to many children.

Referring to all of these changes, Gulaid told IRIN that in light of Swaziland’s formidable challenges, “I think that this society is doing a remarkable job.” 

Saving Young Lives

Beneficiaries of an SOS Family Care program near the Mbabane SOS Children's Village in Swaziland.

In addition, in 2010 the nation’s parliament passed a law to protect children from being trafficked, a potential problem common to countries with high concentrations of orphans.

In the health area, UNICEF has been working successfully with the government to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. “What is remarkable about Swaziland,” Gulaid told IRIN, “is that the country sustained the routine programs that address common childhood needs while giving priority attention to HIV, the new threat.” He said that polio has been eradicated, measles contained, and cholera made rare.

SOS Children’s Villages Helps AIDS Orphans and Families

Beneficiaries of an SOS Family Care program near the Mbabane SOS Children's Village in Swaziland

The enormous scope of Swaziland’s orphan problem, together with poverty, unemployment, and the movement of families to cities, has stretched the capacity of the traditional extended family to provide care to abandoned children.

In Swaziland and across AIDS-affected Africa, SOS Children’s Villages steps in to give vulnerable children homes, health care, education, and job skills. Grim HIV/AIDS statistics can seem abstract and overwhelming. Read how SOS is helping one Swazi family that lost a precious young daughter to AIDS.  SOS’s concrete assistance enables HIV-infected children and adults to live with dignity and the hope of building a brighter future.

You can help SOS care for children in Swaziland and around the world.  Make a donation, sponsor a child, or become an SOS Global Village Builder to learn about the four principles of SOS while providing loving homes for children and strong communities for families.

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