Our Valuable Children:

Quality and Sustainability of Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Background

In 2007, AVSI reached the mid-way point of this significant program through which AVSI and over a hundred community based organizations and associations provide care and education for children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in three countries of East Africa—Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya. This program reflects a growing commitment of the US Government to support the work of locally based, community-level organizations including faith-based organizations, as partners in the battle against HIV/AIDS. For AVSI, the collaboration with USAID under PEPFAR has enabled a significant scaling-up of existing programs to support the health, education and overall well-being of children in poverty in Africa and has also provided the opportunity to learn about and share the method of work with a larger audience. AVSI has begun to reap many indirect benefits of this program including opportunities to improve the quality of its assistance in other countries of the region, including Burundi, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Mozambique.

AVSI is interested in creating a platform to share and discuss a few of the most pressing concerns of OVC programming touching upon sustainabilty, capacity building and evaluation. Recognizing the essential role of the over 100 local partner organizations which implement this program with AVSI, the event will also feature three witnesses from AVSI’s partners in Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. AVSI invites colleagues from other organizations engaged in related work, representatives of donor agencies, technical experts, academics and students, and policy makers to participate fully.

The event title, Our Valuable Children, has become the motto of AVSI’s OVC program and reflects AVSI’s method of working which starts from the infinite value of the child and his/her place within a communtiy, rather than his/her vulnerability in isolation. This affirmation of the positive allows for an education towards the fullest potential of the individual and community to take place.