TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending June 18, 2004

HR 4061 to provide assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries.

BRIEF

   There are over 110 million children in the world with little or no food, home or adult protection. The lion’s share of those kids live in Africa, South America and the Caribbean and suffer that fate because of losing one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. The bill would establish important reforms to promote accountability and effectiveness of such programs, as administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Sponsor: Barbara Lee (D-CA)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote.

Cost to the taxpayers: Spending would come from decisions made in 2003 in Public Law 108-25 to address the spread of HIV/AIDS, Malaria and tuberculosis. The Bush administration and the 108^th Congress authorized in 2003 $1.6 billion and established no authority for spending beyond that. PL 108-25, passed in 2004, appropriated $955 million for 2004. $3 billion yearly is authorized through 2008 but the President and Congress must appropriate that amount or less each year. The CBO estimated five year spending will total $13.7 billion through 2008 with diminishing outlays from $955 million in 2003 to $21 million in 2008.

MORE INFORMATION

  From the committee report: “The Committee believes it is essential that the United States Government adopt a comprehensive approach for the provision of assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries. The comprehensive approach should ensure that basic care, health services including treatment for those children with HIV/AIDS, mental health problems (or conditions) and related services for those children affected by HIV/AIDS are made more accessible.” Also important are school food programs, increased educational opportunities and employment training and related services, and the protection and promotion of inheritance rights. The Committee included that treatment shall include medical treatment for children, including the provision of anti-retroviral drugs.

   Every 14 seconds another child is orphaned by AIDS. The global orphans crisis is a profound humanitarian disaster that will be felt for decades to come.

   Many African children are now born into a world without hope, the committee concluded. With parents dying at an alarming rate, grandparents and extended families with few resources are called upon to take in additional children to feed, shelter and clothes. Children for whom there are no families often wind up in the streets at the mercy of criminals, traffickers and others who exploit their vulnerability.

   Street children live precarious lives without food, shelter, education, or protection. Such children face a greater risk for malnutrition, illness, abuse and exploitation. Girls take responsibility for more household chores and are especially likely to drop out of school and take on responsibilities for the care of an ailing parent. Orphaned children are less likely to receive basic education, health care, or job skills. By 2010, one in every four children will face this grim future in Botswana, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

   AIDS orphans are much more vulnerable to exploitation, including forced labor and physical and sexual abuse. Children without hope are more likely to be recruited, sometimes by force, by militias, rebel armies and terrorists.

  It was noted in the committee report that something as simple as school fees and related education costs also are often barriers to attending school. Despite national and international conventions that commit nations to provide free and compulsory education at the primary level, school fees continue to be levied in at least 100 countries. (Editor’s Note: More than half the World’s countries levy school fees) Other costs, such as books, school uniforms, transport or community contributions, are also common. As such “the Committee believes that eliminating school fees is the single most effective step to ensuring universal access to education for orphans and other vulnerable children. Orphans rarely are able to attend school because many cannot afford school fees or are forced to financially support their families or care for sick relatives.” The need to pay orphans' school fees is the biggest barrier to adoption of AIDS orphans.

   The Committee concluded that removing school fees is necessary, but not sufficient to ensure increased attendance over the long term, and must also be coupled with action by developing countries and the international donor community to address the increased demand for additional teachers, classrooms, materials and financial resources.

  The Committee finds that as a result of the numerous United States Government programs under which assistance is specifically authorized or otherwise available for orphans and vulnerable children in developing countries, the United States Agency for International Development will be required to develop innovative methods for the conduct and monitoring of these programs, including through the collection, analysis, and reporting of information on the programs. Innovative community-based programs designed by indigenous communities are likely to develop the best approaches address the social, economic, and cultural needs of their children. ## All Rights Reserved. No reproduction or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.