USAID ends activity supporting 625,000 AIDS orphans, vulnerable children, caregivers

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has concluded a five-year activity that provided support for 500,000 children orphaned or made vulnerable by the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, and 125,000 of their caregivers in an elaborate ceremony held in Abuja on Wednesday.

The $45.3 million Sustainable Mechanisms for Improving Livelihoods (SMILE) activity, funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has scaled up support services for orphans and vulnerable children (in 47 local government areas across five states (Benue, Edo, Kogi, and Nassawara) and the Federal Capital Territory.

In her address during the event, Director of the USAID Office of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis Control, Zohra Balsara said “Support to these vulnerable populations is critical for the future of Nigeria, a country whose human capital is its greatest strength.

“This is why since 2013 USAID, with funding made available through PEPFAR, has helped to reduce the impact of HIV on those orphaned and rendered vulnerable by the presence of the disease in their lives. SMILE focused on children living in the communities most impacted by HIV, with an emphasis on assisting adolescent girls, who are particularly vulnerable to HIV.

“Support to this group is critical for the future of Nigeria, a country whose human capital is its greatest strength. If we are not careful this strength could become burden if people aren’t kept healthy and properly educated,” she said.

She noted that since 2004, PEPFAR has contributed more than $5.1 billion in support of Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS response. “Through PEPFAR, more than 800,000 Nigerian men, women and children are receiving HIV treatment today. USAID also partner with the Government of Nigeria to strengthen health systems across the country, having helped more than 1.2 million orphans and vulnerable children receive care and support services, access to education, health care and household economic strengthening since 2014,” she said.

The SMILE programme was started in April 2013 and ended in September 2018.

To achieve these results, SMILE provided grants to civil society organizations under a consortium led by Catholic Relief Services. SMILE helped establish referral networks, improve HIV/AIDS related service delivery, and support to households affected by the epidemic. The activity worked through schools on health education and school access, provided psychosocial support to AIDS victims, and trained their caregivers on parenting skills.

Sonia Gambo, a beneficiary from Bwari Area Council in the FCT, said she thought her life was over after her initial diagnosis. “I was dead,” she dramatically told ceremony participants before recounting how the SMILE project helped her secure a loan and seed money to plant crops and start a firewood business, while coaching her on how to be a better wife and mother despite her illness. “SMILE taught me how live positively with HIV.”

Also presiding at the ceremony was a representative of Ifeoma Anagbogu, Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry for Women Affairs and Social Development, who said that the Nigerian government was motivated by the efforts of the USAID programme adding that the activity also supported State Ministry of Women Affairs and local social welfare units to improve their own effectiveness in service delivery for children.

Innocent Odoh, Abuja