Jimmy Kolker, Chief, HIV and AIDS, UNICEF, provided an overview of the synthesis paper. He stressed that there is now solid evidence on the situation of children affected by HIV and AIDS thanks to the work of the IATT, JLICA, UNAIDS and UNICEF that should be used for further action. Key findings of the paper included:
an overlap between children made vulnerable by AIDS and those who are vulnerable in generalised epidemics and high poverty contexts;
the need for interventions to be AIDS driven but not AIDS exclusive taking into consideration the context;
cash transfers have been shown to work;
the importance of strengthening social protection mechanisms
the need to build capacity in both the public and the civil sector
the need to combine interventions for children with interventions for parents (“keeping parents alive”)
the need to better develop the range of options for alternative care where parental or family care is not available.
