NELA Consortium AIDS Initiative in Nigeria

Nigeria has one of the largest orphans and vulnerable children populations in the world, approximately 17 million, including over two million children orphaned because of HIV/AIDS.  Nigeria’s National Guidelines on Orphans and Vulnerable Children (2008) documented that national health policies do not support free services, and nutrition among these children is generally poor. They do not receive nutritional support; school-related costs limit their access to education, health care and clean water; and their caregivers lack knowledge about their needs. 

 

The NECAIN project is tailored to specifically address areas that pose challenges for responding to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria by focusing on the issues of care and support, prevention and orphans and vulnerable children. Cross-cutting strategies are employed to build capacity of stakeholders to deliver quality services and rapidly scale up responses at all levels. 

 

The project works in Adamawa, Borno, Jigawa and Yobe States to strengthen the capacity of health care providers of states, local governments and civil society organizations to provide, manage and monitor integrated, comprehensive HIV prevention services and care to these children and their families.  The intervention is further expected to increase access of vulnerable populations, these children and their families to quality HIV counseling and testing, services to screen and treat sexually transmitted infections, and other HIV-related services through an effective and efficient linkage and referral system. In addition, NECAIN promotes community health norms and socio-cultural practices and HIV prevention interventions that support positive changes in sexual behavior.  

 

Finally, the project is expected to improve HIV prevention and support for orphans and vulnerable children through shared learning and documentation of best practices that will inform policy and programs. The project collaborates with other United States Government implementing partners such as SESAME Workshops and Maximizing Agricultural Revenues for Key Enterprises in Target States (MARKETS) to ensure effective delivery of services to orphans and vulnerable children in these states.