Defining vulnerability

A case study from Zambia

Katie Schenk, Lewis Ndhlovu, Stephen Tembo,
Andson Nsune, Chozi Nkhata, RAPIDS
Interagency Task Team on Children and HIV and AIDS
Washington, DC
23-24th April 2007

Reaching AIDS-affected People with

Integrated Development and Support
ECR

Outline
Introduction
Aims, methods

Results
Quantitative and qualitative

Lessons learnt
Implications for programs

Study Aims
To explore community
conceptualizations of vulnerability
To examine vulnerability factors
characteristics and prevalence
To discuss implications for
community-based care and
support interventions

Methods
6 sentinel sites
Quantitative approaches:
household surveys
Qualitative approaches: focus
group discussions and in-depth
interviews
Ethical issues

Results

Sociodemographics
Table 1: Description of household respondents
District name
Chongwe
(n = 241)
%

Kalomo
(n = 259)
%

Mazabuka
(n = 236)
%

Mpika
(n = 279)
%

Ndola
(n = 195)
%

Petauke
(n = 293)
%

Total
(n = 1,503)
%

Male

77

77

80

72

81

72

76

Female

23

23

20

28

20

28

24

Male

43

39

39

42

43

43

41

Female

42

37

39

43

40

41

40

Single

10

Sex of head of household

Respondent age (mean, in years)

Respondent marital status

Males

Females

Currently married

86

84

92

84

86

91

87

Divorced/separated

Widowed

Single

11

Currently married

42

56

50

48

61

54

52

Divorced/separated

15

16

10

11

10

11

Widowed

35

24

28

39

27

28

30

% of currently married who are in

polygamous marriages
Males

13

17

10

10

Females

14

14

25

10

13

13

Number of households

Household Composition
1000

Female-headed

800

Male-headed

13%

600
22%

400
200

73%

22%

29%

0
1 adult

2 adults

3-4 adults

5-6 adults

Number of adult members

7+ adults

Problems

LACK OF FOOD
health problems (adult and child)
increasing number of orphans
agricultural production problems (esp
lack of farming inputs)
lack of money, material goods, earning
opportunities
insufficient schooling support for children

Which Households?

Female-headed households
Elderly-headed households
Widow-headed households
Households with a member who is
chronically ill or disabled
Households with a child member who
has been orphaned or taken in
Households headed by children
Households that are simply poor

Orphanhood and Fostering

Child-headed Households
Qualitative vs quantitative data
My parents died 4 years ago and being the
eldest I look after 6 siblings. I have to put food
on the table and pay school fees, especially for
those in secondary school.
I have taken up responsibility of looking after
my siblings. I like school but attending school
wont put food on the table or pay for the much
needed school fees. I would rather work on the
farms and earn an income for my family.
Female youths, Chongwe

Vulnerability
Characteristics
All 6 sites
(n = 5,009)
%
Orphaned
(% of all
children)

Maternal orphan
(mother dead or unknown)
Paternal orphan
(father dead or unknown)
Double orphan

Vulnerable Child lives with a parent who is chronically ill

(% of all
Child lives in a hh with anyone who is chronically ill
children)
Child has been taken in from another hh

4
11
7
3
17
30

Child lives in a hh that has taken in children

53

Child lives in a female-headed hh

22

Child lives in an elderly-headed household

10

Child lives in a widow/er-headed household

14

Vulnerability Prevalence

neither
T otal

46%

32%

22%

vulnerable,
not orphaned
orphaned

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Vulnerability Distribution
1800

Number of children

1600

orphaned
not orphaned

1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
0

Number of characteristics of vulnerability

5-7

Lessons Learnt

Implications for Programs

Importance of community input
Targeting
Data requirements
Further research
Clustering, thresholds
SES
Link to outcomes

Thank you
kschenk@pcdc.org
www.rapids.org.zm
www.popcouncil.org/hivaids/orphans.html
www.popcouncil.org/horizons