National plan of action for orphans and other vulnerable children: Zimbabwe

National plan of action for orphans and other vulnerable children: Zimbabwe

An estimated 761,000 children in Zimbabwe have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. Projections suggest that by the year 2005, there will be approximately 1.1 million children under the age of 15 who will have been orphaned due to AIDS. In response to this crisis, the Government of Zimbabwe has endorsed the urgent need for coordinated, expanded interventions to strengthen existing work being undertaken by government ministries, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs), faith-based organisations (FBOs) and United Nations (UN) agencies. With support from the Social Services Action Committee of the Cabinet (SSACC), a national stakeholders' conference was held in Harare in June 2003 to widen the consultative process and secure broad-based support for a National Plan of Action (NPA) for Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC).