Abstract : As more and more children become orphans due to the AIDS-related deaths of their parents and/or guardians, many people think that placing orphans in orphanages may be the solution to the problem. While this focus upon orphans is understandable, one must also not forget that children suffer from a diminished standard of living due to AIDS morbidity long before their parents die and HIV affects all social and economic dependents of an infected person, not just the children. The Paris-based International Children's Center (ICC) followed 120 AIDS-affected families for several years to study the socioeconomic destiny of the children and families overall. It was subsequently concluded that appropriate and lasting support programs must take into account and build upon the coping responses of the families and communities themselves. Thirty nongovernmental organization representatives from eight eastern and southern African countries attending a workshop in Lusaka, Zambia, February 1994 developed the following recommendations: orphanages should be used in only emergency situations and on a temporary basis, access to education must be maintained for children affected by the epidemic, cash donations should be made to needy families in only extreme cases in the interest of promoting self-sufficiency, and the rights of dependent survivors must be respected, especially with regard to inheritance
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