Putting early childhood development on the agenda

"It takes more than ARVs to raise a child: the importance of community support for children affected by AIDS" aimed to draw attention to the importance of early childhood development, and the role communities can play in providing support to younger children affected by HIV and AIDS. In this session, held in the Global Village and organized by the Bernard van Leer Foundation and the Coalition for Children affected by AIDS, three programmes from East and West Africa reflected on their work.

All three showed how it is possible to work with community members to provide integrated, holistic support for younger children, using local resources and the knowledge and wisdom of older people. The whole spectrum of care for children must be considered – nutrition, shelter, psychosocial wellbeing, health and economic strengthening as well as challenging the stigma and discrimination attached to HIV.