5 200 CHILDREN ORPHANED BY COVID-19 PANDEMIC

MBABANE – Statistics on orphaned and vulnerable children indicate that a total of 5 200 children in the country lost a parent or caregiver during the COVID-19 pandemic era.

According to the Joint Estimates and Action statistics report published in May 23, 2022, of the above stated children, 4 200 were orphaned by the death of one or both parents. According to this report, the number of children who are orphans in Eswatini doubled in 10 months, from July 2021, to May 2022. It was reported that new evidence showed an alarming pattern of childhood vulnerability, especially among families exposed to COVID-19- related death. Globally, more than 10.4 million children have lost a parent or a caregiver to COVID-19 in just two years. It was stated that Eswatini had a minimum of 5 200 children bereaved due to death of a parent or caregiver.

adolescent

“Two in every three children orphaned by COVID-19 worldwide are adolescent,” reads the report. According to the report, both HIV and COVID-19 were similar, in that they caused high mortality rate among Eswatini’s most vulnerable populations, including those with existing comorbidities. “Head of household death can increase family poverty, violence, for both boys and girls, and transactional sexual exploitation for adolescent girls,” reads the report. The report further highlighted that under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, Eswatini implemented the first national Violence Against Children Survey, which was now being replicated. The first survey found that a high number of girls experienced sexual violence during childhood. A multi-sector response to this data led to a strengthening of the child protection policy framework. Grandparents also have a major role of care-giving and financial support.
“With high COVID-19 mortality rates in older people, the crisis is exacerbated,” reads the report.

donation

Principal Secretary (PS) in the Deputy Prime Minister’s office, Melusi Masuku, commented about this number during the Select Limited Eswatini donation of shoes and socks to 1 200 primary school going children. Masuku said current statistics of orphaned and vulnerable children in the country were worrying. He noted that the Kingdom of Eswatini was in the top 10 countries in the world with the highest rates of pandemic orphanhood with one of every 100 children having suffered death of a caregiver from March 2020 through May 30 2022.
Actually, according to the aforementioned report, in Eswatini four children in every 100 children lost a parent or a caregiver through the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Masuku said as it was well-known to everyone that from the HIV/AIDS pandemic, orphanhood was permanent; yet children who receive timely family based care, along with parental, educational and financial support could recover from this devastating loss, to thrive and reach their potential. He said those children who had been orphaned and made vulnerable by the pandemic did not receive help in time, many were likely to face abuse, violence and institutionalisation.

assistance

The increasing number of orphans means an increase of the burden to the DPM’s office, as it pays school fees for those children who lost their parents. The assistance is extended through the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programme. Currently, government is paying E1 950 per child under the said programme and due to the escalating costs, there have been calls for government to increase the fund to E4 000 per learner, to cover all costs of a pupil without the need for a top-up fee, as often schools would require the children to further pay top-up fees.

It was also noted that most schools in the country had the highest numbers of OVCs hence they relied on the said programme for their day-to-day operations. The Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), is among the organisations making the calls for the government to increase the fund. Moreover, as the orphaned children were often left in the hands of their grandparents, there were also calls to increase the elderly grant from E500 to E1500 per month.

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