Objetivos específicos

The first reported case of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe occurred in 1985 (UNAIDS 2005) and by the end of the 1980s around 10% of the adult population were thought to be infected with HIV (UNAIDS 2005). The figure rose dramatically in the first half of the 1990s, peaking at 26.5% in 1997 (UNGASS, 2010; Zimbabwe UNGASS Country Progress Report). However, since then the HIV prevalence is estimated to have halved from its peak in the late 1990s (Muchini, Benedikt, Gregson, Gomo, Mate, Mugurungi et al. 2011:496;

cf. UNAIDS 2005). This makes Zimbabwe one of the first sub-Saharan African nations to witness such a trend. According to government figures, the adult prevalence was 23.7% in 2001, falling to 14.3% in 2010 (UNGASS 2010; cf. UNAIDS 2008; Muchini et al.

2011:496).The decrease of HIV prevalence within adults is also good news for children, because the number of orphans of AIDS will also decrease, as will infection of unborn babies by mothers, especially those who do not have access to prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services. Reasons for the HIV and AIDS decline in Zimbabwe, according to research, include reductions in casual (including commercial) sexual relationships during the late 1990s and early 2000s, following earlier increases in condom use within these types of partnerships; the reduction in multiple sexual partnerships; rising awareness of the dangers of HIV infection, due to very high AIDS mortality; and also a response to some HIV education and prevention programmes which

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were intensified around the late 1990s (UNGASS 2012; cf. Muchini et al. 2011:496).

According to the UNAIDS (2013) report, voluntary medical male circumcision is another reason for HIV and AIDS reductions in sub-Saharan Africa. Although Zimbabwe is affected by the shortage of human resources in the health sector, the country recorded a 50% decline in the number of adults (15-49 years old) acquiring HIV infection between 2001 and 2011 (UNAIDS 2013).

Zimbabwe was once amongst the top sub-Saharan Africa countries to have been worst affected by the HIV and AIDS epidemic (Jackson 2002:14-15). The projected population in 2009 was 12 million people (Central Statistical Office Populations Projections 2009), and according to the online Central Intelligence Agency 2010 (CIA) the Zimbabwean population has decreased to 11,392,629 (World Fact Book 2010), from 13.3 million in 2007-2008 (Central Statistical Office Populations Projections 2008). This decrease indicates the seriousness of the mortality rate. According to the CIA, it is due to the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS, lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth and changes in the distribution of the population by age and sex (CIA Fact Book 2010). It may also be due to the migration of people to other countries in search of better opportunities (Madzivadondo 2012:198). According to the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Zimbabwe National HIV (2009), the HIV prevalence is declining as a result of prevention programmes, in particular behaviour change and PMTCT (UNGASS 2012; cf. Muchini et al. 2011:496). Between 2009 and 2011, Zimbabwe witnessed a 45% decline in the number of new paediatric HIV infections, from 17,700 to 9,700 (UNAIDS 2013). However, this could be because some of the HIV and AIDS cases in rural areas went unreported.

Although the Zimbabwean government claims that the HIV prevalence is declining, it admits that the number of children orphaned and made vulnerable by the impact of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe remains high (Ministry of Health and Child Welfare 2009). The approximate number of HIV and AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe in 2007 was I,043,715, whilst estimates for 2008 and 2009 were 1,025,472 and 989,009 respectively (Ministry of Health and Child Welfare 2009). The PEPFAR Operational Plan Report (2013) estimation of the number of orphans and vulnerable children was 941,021, a marked decrease which gives cause for optimism. However, with the current economic world climate this may be

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unfounded, particularly if HIV and AIDS is directly linked to the socio-economic and political climate of the country.

According to the 2010 research by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UNICEF, Zimbabwe has the highest number of children orphaned by HIV and AIDS per capita in the World (UNICEF Report 2010). Of over 1.3 million, many have dropped out of school and hundreds of families are child-headed (UNICEF Report 2010).

The impact of HIV and AIDS on children and families in Zimbabwe and other poor countries is compounded by many families having to live in communities which are already disadvantaged by poverty, poor infrastructure and limited access to basic services (Foster and William 2000:S277, cf. PEPFAR Operational Plan Report 2013).

3.2.1 Linking migration to HIV, socio-economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe was once rated among the top countries affected by HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa, but current analysis points to some positive changes in Zimbabwe‟s new HIV prevalence. Some argue that it is due to the introduction of a so-called AIDS levy by the Zimbabwean government and the tireless work done by nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) (Africa 360, E News Channel, 9 August 2010, cf. Zimbabwe Country Report 2010-2011; UNGASS 2012). Despite some efforts by the NGOs to alleviate new HIV prevalence in the country, lack of political will by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) leadership to condemn the causes of HIV and AIDS, such as migration between Zimbabwe and South Africa, will still fuel the epidemic. Migration increased due to the socio-economic and political instability in Zimbabwe caused by the land reform programme, amongst other factors (Lubbe, 2009:2). Migration forces spouses to live apart, thereby leading to multiple sexual partnering and increases in HIV prevalence among this population (Madzivadondo 2012:198; Brummer 2002; Deane, Parkhurst &

Johnstone 2010:1460). The lack of political will by SADC leadership was evident in the quiet diplomacy policy implemented by Thabo Mbeki in his mediation efforts on behalf of South Africa. South Africa was requested by the SADC leadership to lead mediation efforts between President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic

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Front (Zanu-PF) and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)¹⁴ (Graham 2010:114-115; cf. Sachikonye 2005:581). SADC does not have an institutional mechanism for intervening in the domestic affairs of member states (Sachikonye 2005:572-573) so the leadership is in denial about its regional crisis, particularly democratic leadership. There is a lack of political will to condemn members, for fear of being seen as siding with the West.

The lack of political will by the SADC leadership to condemn ZANU PF and Mugabe on the human rights abuses has contributed to the economic decline, thus affecting the social structures of the country. Families have been forced to separate due to migration, making spouses vulnerable to HIV and AIDS (Madzivadondo 2012:198; cf. Deane, Parkhurst, Johnston 2010:1461). Howard, Philips, Matihnure, Goodman, McCurdy, and Johnson (2006:1) explain that the Zimbabwe AIDS epidemic is fed by an economic meltdown, marked currently by almost 90% unemployment according to current statistics, and primarily caused by the political instability¹⁵, triple digit inflation, a shattered agricultural sector, drastic cuts in social spending, political uncertainty and paralysis. Howard et al.

argue that the economy declined because Zimbabwe was isolated by Western donors critical of its government‟s human rights records (2006:1; Africa 360, E News Channel, 9 August 2010). The shattered socio-economic and political structures affected children more than any other human being.

The nuclear family structure is destroyed by the dispersal and death of family members due to AIDS or political violence (Madzivadondo 2012:196; cf. Price-Smith 2007:5).

Khumalo (2010:67) explains that political violence increased when combined elections held on 29 March 2008, already preceded by violence, failed to produce a majority winner.

With a runoff to be held in June 2008, many Zimbabweans fled the country in search of protection and opportunities in neighbouring countries, particularly South Africa and Botswana (Khumalo 2010:67). This movement affected most children‟s lives, forcing them to live without one or both parents. Migration forced the majority of Zimbabwean

14 ZANU (PF) has been in power since Zimbabwe won its independence from Britain in 1980. Robert Mugabe has been the president of the party and Zimbabwe since independence. The party managed to stay in power by practicing violence, killing and victimising the opposition party supporters and rights activists. In the Government of National Unity (GNU) with MDC-T and MDC-M ZANU (PF) controls all the security forces and the judiciary, which the party uses for its own benefit. (See the Zimbabwean 28 January 2010 p.

4).

15 transparency.globalvoicesonline.org accessed on 10 February 2010; cf.

Zimbabwenews.www.zimbabwesituation.com/aug4.html; globalgeopolitics.net/wordpress/2010;

www.france24.com/en/20100307burdenofaidshitzimwomenhardest

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children to be “orphans of the Diaspora” or “Diaspora orphans”,¹⁶ living amongst other orphans (Maddalena 2011).

Most of the Zimbabwean policies, such as the Zimbabwe‟s National Policy on the Care and Protection of Orphans, favour fostering of orphans within the extended family (Ansell

&Young 2004:4). The “orphans of the Diaspora” are not considered as orphans in Zimbabwe, and so do not receive benefits intended for orphans, such as school fees and qualifying to stay in institutions that cater for them. The extended family is mainly a source of caring for orphans and many parents send money and food, but if not the children may have to endure emotional hardships (Madzivadondo 2012:198; White 2009).

The form of economic assistance that Zimbabwe offers to destitute children is in the form of school fees channelled through the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), a national programme launched in January 2001 as one component of the Enhanced Social Protection Project (ESPP) (Rispel, Palha de Sousa and Molomo 2009:497). Implemented by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in conjunction with the Ministry of Education for sports and culture, in all the districts of Zimbabwe, it is operational in both urban and rural areas. The goal is to provide educational assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children between 6-19 years of age (Ibid.), targeting children enrolled at schools but having difficulties in raising the fees, children who had dropped out of school and those who have not been to school (Ibid.; cf. Mararike 2006).¹⁷ The primary focus is on assisting with payment of tuition fees, exam fees, a building fund and school levies (Mararike 2006).¹⁸ However, with current economic and political instability in Zimbabwe, BEAM came to be used as a campaign tool by the ruling political party Zanu-PF. First priority was given to the children of loyal party supporters (The Zimbabwean 22 April 2010). This abuse of BEAM has forced some donors to resist channelling their money into this project, resulting in many orphaned children being turned onto the streets to find work and some having to opt for migration to South Africa. UNICEF (2004)

16 “Orphans of the Diaspora” or diaspora orphans are children whose parents have migrated to other

countries for security reasons and economic reasons leaving them under the care of relatives or the extended family.

17Mararike N. Johannesburg: Wahenga; 2006. Zimbabwe: the basic education assistance module.

http://www.wahenga.net/index.php/views/country_update_view/zimbabwe_the_basic_education_assistance_

module_beam/, accessed on 10 July 2007.

18Ibid.

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reports that BEAM is threatened by the economic condition of Zimbabwe and donors who are more reluctant to fund President Mugabe‟s regime.

The increasing death of parents due to AIDS has impacted the Zimbabwean children where most vulnerable, and as Bourdillon (2006:1) explains: “…in the face of growing poverty and the deaths of many adults from HIV/AIDS, children cannot always depend on the adult world for support.” According to Save the Children UK (2010), most children who cross the border to South Africa have lost their parents to HIV and AIDS,¹⁹ and as UNICEF (2010) agrees, orphans are more likely to migrate within countries and cross borders than children who live with their parents.²⁰ According to the findings of the curator‟s report on the unaccompanied refugee minors in South Africa from Zimbabwe, Skelton argues that children who cross the border illegally would have left their country because of death of their parents due to political violence and HIV and AIDS (Skelton 2010:5). On the other hand, some children will be trying to escape desperate poverty, hoping to find work and make money (Skelton 2010:5; cf. Bourdillon 2009:294).

The 2010 report by Save the Children UK also reported that the economic crisis, hunger and the impact of HIV and AIDS was forcing Zimbabwean children as young as seven to risk their lives through exploitation by walking in small groups of four or five with older children of 10 to 11 years of age.²¹These were mostly orphaned children entering South Africa in the hope of finding work, food and schooling²²(Skelton 2010:5; Magqibelo 2010:4; Munhande & Dzimba 2010:10), however, they were often exploited by unscrupulous guides and lived in squatter camps or on rubbish dumps (SAVE the Children UK Report 2010; cf. Skelton 2010).

3.3. HISTORY OF MIGRATION BETWEEN ZIMBABWE AND SOUTH AFRICA