The role of international organizations in alleviating the effects of HIV/AIDS on children in Kenya, 2005-2006

Abstract

This study explores the response of international organizations to the problem of the child made vulnerable or orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Kenya, and the benefits accruing to the child. When the AIDS epidemic first gained international attention in the early 1980s, the World Health Organization took the lead, identifying AIDS as a health concern. Within the broad international policy framework that endorses a human rights perspective, national policies vary widely and, on the ground, policy implementation and enforcement are often problematic. In the Kenyan context, action was taken only recently, (2005) to address the plight of the affected child, with the help of a conglomeration of international organizations headed by UNICEF. The results thereof have been largely uninvestigated and unaudited. In general, the response to a problem that can easily spiral out of hand and one affecting every aspect of society since it is our children, the future generation, in question, has been largely ignored in Kenya. This study reveals that very little has been accomplished by international organizations in terms of implementation of the policy put in place to protect the Kenyan orphan and child made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. It is left upon us, Kenyans, to arise and help our own and stop depending on foreign assistance. These are our children and we must wake up and take full responsibility. We must protect the future generation.