Thursday, March 27, 2008
New Project in Vietnam to Serve Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Doctors of the World-USA (DOW) is pleased to announce that it will be expanding its global reach with the launch of a new project in Vietnam to serve the needs of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS. The new project, made possible through the generous support of Pact Vietnam with funding from USAID through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), will replicate and expand DOW’s successful MAMA+ Project, which was first launched in Russia and Ukraine. The new initiative will build access to community-based care for children and families both infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, including a pilot foster care program - a first in Vietnam, where no system of publicly regulated fostering yet exists.
Children and families affected by HIV/AIDS in Vietnam presently have, at best, access to very limited, fragmented support services. Institutionalization is the prevailing option for children in need of care, and child abandonment by HIV-positive mothers is a growing issue of concern. DOW’s new project seeks to prevent abandonment and institutionalization by improving the ability of families and communities to care for children living with HIV/AIDS and children who have been orphaned or otherwise affected by the disease.
Replicating models around the world
In 2005, DOW launched the MAMA+ Project in Russia to address escalating rates of child abandonment by mothers living with HIV. The program was replicated in Ukraine the following year, where the mounting HIV epidemic has also spurred disturbing child abandonment rates. MAMA+ empowers mothers to keep children in the family environment through counseling, guidance in parenting, financial support, vocational training, and access to comprehensive medical services.
In Vietnam, children and families affected by HIV/AIDS have needs similar to those of our beneficiaries in Russia and Ukraine, making the nation an excellent site for the replication of the MAMA+ model. To meet specific needs demonstrated by orphans and vulnerable children in Vietnam, we are adapting for the local context, and applying DOW’s experience piloting and sustaining foster care programs in Russia. DOW previously worked in Vietnam from 2000 to 2003 to strengthen maternal and child health services for ethnic minorities at rural health facilities.