ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON FEMALE CHILDHEADED HOUSEHOLDS: THE CASE OF TEN FEMALE CHILD-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS IN ADAMA TOWN, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is tearing away at the social, cultural and economic fabric of families, communities and nations. It is resulting in distorted population structures, low life expectancy and declining economic growth. The greatest tragedy wrought by the epidemic has been the staggering population of orphans left behind in the wake of parental death in large numbers. Once left parentless, some orphans were absorbed by the extended family, while others make their way into institutional care or onto the street. However, many of them establish a household by themselves where the eldest sibling takes the household headship in what is termed child-headed household. The impact of HIV/AIDS had been studied from different perspectives, such as, in relation to work force, home based care, health facility, FCHH, stigma and discrimination. However, the literature that deals with the impact of the pandemic on female child-headed households is very scarce in Ethiopia in general and in the study area in particular. Thus, this study presents an assessment of the impact of HIV/AIDS on female child-headed households, by studying the psychological problems and child right situation, exploring the challenges faced by female child-headed households in carrying the responsibilities of household headship and coping strategies. It intends to identify perceptions of children towards their caregivers, the people in the community and the future. The study also assessed the role of child-focused organizations in addressing the need of child-headed households in the study area and the relevance of the different services and supports they have been providing to the children. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with female children carrying responsibility for household in Adama town, Eastern Oromoiya zone of Oromoiya National Regional State. The selection of respondents was based on purposive 15 sampling. FGDs and KIIs were used along with representatives of government sector, NGOs and siblings of women child-headed household to generate qualitative data. In addition, secondary data were collected from relevant documents from woreda health office and other sources. The data were analyzed by using strategy of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The study showed that female child-headed households face tremendous emotional and psychological challenges, and live with the constant memory of their departed parents, who often died slowly and painfully. The majority of them experience loneliness and stress associated with shouldering an adult role at a young age. The study also identified that the major challenges faced by female child- headed households are responsibility towards younger siblings and the obligation to take the place of the deceased parents ,concern for surviving in the face of economic and social hardship, grappling with multiple and competing responsibilities, and helplessness, uncertainty about personal safety and family disintegration and discipline. The study revealed that female child-headed households used various types of strategies for coping with the impact of HIV/AIDS. The major ones include searching for assistance from the charity organizations, selling household assets and withdrawing savings. The study showed that while the involvement of community and child-focused NGOs and CBOs working in orphaned and vulnerable children support services generally seem encouraging, even though the assistance was limited and the selection criteria of beneficiaries was not gender sensitive. It is evident from the findings from this study that the female child-headed households face a number of challenges, which include shortage of food, lack of access to education, insufficient health services, sexual abuse, psychosocial impact, , pubertal adjustment, burden of carrying responsibilities, etc. They, 16 however, have not been able to address these challenges effectively. Thus, this study recommends that communities need to mobilize resources to assist female child-headed households and children living with them to optimize their quality of life and future prospects in mitigating the impacts of HIV/AIDS. Moreover, there is clearly a need for programs and skills that enhance the children's ability to manage households in areas such as management, conflict resolution, and effective utilization of limited household resources and so on. The study further recommended that all stakeholders providing support to child-headed households need to assess the gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS impact before undertaking any intervention programs since it was discovered from the study that female child headed households have been vulnerable to biological, cultural and sexual challenges.