Lesotho: Help at Hand for HIV Orphans

Lesotho, the European Union, and UNICEF are joining in a pilot project to provide supplemental cash grants over the next year to 1,200 households caring for AIDS orphans. The quarterly grants of $38 will go to the districts of Mafeteng, Maseru, and Qacha's Nek, providing for school fees, uniforms, health care, and other basic needs. The EU's European Commission has pledged $16 million through UNICEF over five years for various child support services, including psychosocial support, HIV prevention, and food security.

Of the landlocked kingdom's 1.8 million population, an estimated 23.2 percent have HIV and 110,000 are AIDS orphans. Funds from the Child Grants Program are channeled to the households through village verification committees, which help determine the poorest and most vulnerable households with children. Future pilot project grants will be disbursed in July, October, and January 2010.

"Evidence from other cash-transfer initiatives around the world indicate that the additional income provided through cash grants is used for health, nutrition, and education," said Aichatou Diawara-Flambert, UNICEF's representative in Lesotho. "The benefits enjoyed by the direct recipients are often shared by other household members across generations. Apart from that, cash transfers do not replace other forms of assistance but complement other mechanisms supporting the needy."

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