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The African Child and
Youth in the Era of HIV/AIDS |
Through the 2003 Child and Youth Studies Institute,
African researchers are being invited to contribute to a better understanding of
the consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the development of African
societies in general and the younger members of the community in particular.
Public policies aimed at eradicating the disease pay little attention to the
extent to which the pandemic is affecting the structure of the organisation of
African societies and how conversely, these societies are developing new
strategies that would enable their members to survive individually and
collectively, and also overcome the danger they are faced with. Children and
youth, who by definition, are at the centre of the social reproduction process
of the remaking of the social system. In other words, the social impact of the
pandemic on the youth is producing outcomes which, at a time of generalised
vulnerability, is paving the way for the reconfiguration of the social order in
many African countries. From this point of view, a variety of interesting
questions for further research are emerging and would be pursued within the
framework of the 2003 Institute. Some of the emerging issues include the
following
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The increasing number of AIDS orphans and the
implications of this development for the social status of the African child and
the traditional kinship system;
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The loss of a spouse infected with the disease and
the wy this calls into questions the "traditional" modes of constitution of
domestic groups/households, the community capacity to deal with pandemics, and
dominant notions of family cohesion
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It can be supposed that the presence of the disease
in households changes the existing social relationships between members; in
particular, relations between parents and children, can be subject to profound
changes in affection, transfer of "patrimony" and in strategies for collective
reproduction. The dislocation of the households also induces the production of
new property relations and distribution strategies at the centre of which are
children and youth;
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The precarious situation of youths in the context of
the HIV/AIDS pandemic warrants a redefinition of the role of the elderly members
of society who can no longer take for granted the intermediary function usually
carried out by the youth as the bearers of the renewal and continuity of social
groups
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Faced with the pandemic, youths will certainly
develop new strategies in their choice of partners, social relations and
lifestyle - attitudes that are also expressed through cultural media (music,
dance, clothes, paintings, sports etc.). Such changes in the behaviour of youths
depend on individual perceptions of the disease and its consequences, which in
turn derives from the influence of the currently globalised cultural
environment;
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The vulnerability of children and youths in this era
of HIV/AIDS also reflect, in a complex manner the dangers associated with
prevalent practices and behaviour, furthermore, they affect gender relations in
general;
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It would be of great interest to evaluate the
actions (prevention, care and social rehabilitation) initiated by NGOs and state
social services to respond to and accommodate the needs of children and youths
in HIV/AIDS-affected families
Participants in the Institute will be encouraged to
undertake a critical review of the literature that has been produced on children
and the youth in the context of HIV/AIDS pandemic; analyse evidence emerging
from field studies which they have undertaken or emanating from other sources;
re-think received conceptual, theoretical and methodological tools in the light
of the challenges posed by the need to develop fresh insights into the
transformation of social relations and practices in the wake of the pandemic;
and sharpen their own research interventions through the production of
publishable reports on a given aspect of the theme of the 2003 session. In order
to assist the participants in the realisation of these goals, the resources of
th CODESRIA Centre for Documentation and Information (CODICE), as well as the
expertise of invited resource persons will be made available to them
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