Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005
ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - October 18, 2005)
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Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank both the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) for their graciousness in this debate, something that I know the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) has waited on and fought for for such a long time. My hat is off to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), and the good news is that at the end of my name there is L-e-e. But I celebrate her leadership today and join in reminding the world that this may sound like a celebration but it is only the beginning.
I rise to enthusiastically support H.R. 1409, Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005.
Though, Mr. Speaker, that we rise today and speak about the scourge of AIDS, the vitality and importance of this legislation looms even more important as we look at the backdrop of now the rising numbers of those who have lost their lives in the terrible tragedy of the earthquake in Pakistan and, of course, as I am facing two disasters, the terrible tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and Rita where we know that the largest numbers of those impacted are children. In the instance of Pakistan, we know that children may be the highest numbers of those who have lost their lives, now numbers rising above 40,000. We know in Hurricane Katrina and Rita that we also will feel a terrible impact on our children.
So this bill that is now focused specifically on the issues dealing with HIV/AIDS speaks volumes that we were able to pass legislation based upon the mission that the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), myself, and the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick) joined as the first Presidential mission led by Sandy Thurman of the White House under President Bill Clinton.
As I said, the steps were measured but the effort was persistent and determined, and so this bill will authorize assistance to provide basic care through the community, school food programs, increased primary school enrollment, employment training, protection of inheritance rights, psychosocial support, and treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS.
I will tell my colleagues as I listened to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), she is right. As we walked into various living facilities, huts, throughout the nations that we visited, we stopped in to visit and see a 4-year-old bending over a dying body, we visited with a grandmother who was now taking care of a number of the children of her dead children, both husbands and wives. We knew that this had to be confronted in a very drastic, severe, persistent, and large way. This bill is a large way of responding to it.
We all know that according to a report developed by the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNICEF, and the United States Agency for International Development, as of July 2004 there were more than 143 million orphans living in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, 143 million, which is more than almost half of the population of the United States of America.
We realize that these children are vulnerable, with no hope, no life. We also realize that those who are dying in their care need greater care than a 4-year-old, a 5-year-old, a 6-year-old might be able to give. We know that infants are poor and malnourished and are more likely to contract respiratory infections, diarrhea, and measles and other preventable diseases. We also know that those who were taking care of had tuberculosis and HIV, and so we recognize that this bill is long in coming, but it is so much needed.
Just imagine these poor children with no hope; and so, today, America rises to the occasion of the America that we all have loved and recognize for what she has always been, the defender of the most vulnerable around the world. Some have called her Mother America. In this instance, we embrace those from around the world, and we join with H.R. 1409, and I ask my colleagues to support it. I congratulate my colleagues, and I look forward to working with the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) as we move this forward for a better world.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1409, the ``Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005.'' This bipartisan bill seeks to address the growing problem of orphans and vulnerable children in developing countries, which has been exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The bill establishes the position of Special Advisor for Assistance to Orphans and Vulnerable Children within the United States Agency for International Development with responsibilities including coordination, advising, and the monitoring of assistance.
Additionally, the bill will authorize assistance programs to provide: Basic care through the community; school food programs; increased primary school enrollment; employment training; protection of inheritance rights; psychosocial support; and treatment for children living with HIV/AIDs.
As of July 2004, there were more than 143 million children living in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean who were identified as orphans, having lost one or both of their parents. Of this number, approximately 16 million children were identified as double orphans, having lost both parents--the vast majority of whom died from AIDS. These children often are disadvantaged in numerous and devastating ways and most households with orphans cannot meet the basic needs of health care, food, clothing, and educational expenses.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has increased the number of orphans worldwide and has exacerbated the poor living conditions of the world's poorest and most vulnerable children. AIDS has created an unprecedented orphan crisis, especially in sub-Saharan
Africa, where children have been hardest hit. An estimated 14 million orphans have lost 1 or both parents to AIDS. By 2010, it is estimated that over 25 million children will have been orphaned by AIDS.
Working to combat poverty and to protect the vulnerable is an issue that members of both parties can agree on. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), orphans are less likely to be in school and more likely to be working full time. Providing children with free primary school education, while simultaneously ensuring that adequate resources exist for teacher training and infrastructure would help more orphans and other vulnerable children obtain a quality education. It is critical for the future of these developing nations that the orphaned and vulnerable populations have access to basic needs like food, health care, and education.
GENERAL FACTS ON CHILDREN
According to a report developed by the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNICEF, and the United States Agency for International Development, as of July 2004 there were more than 143,000,000 orphans living in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Assessments carried out by the International Labor Organization (ILO) to investigate the situation of children who are working found that orphans are much more likely than non-orphans to be working in commercial agriculture, the domestic service industry, and the commercial sex industry, as street vendors, or in industries that violate internationally recognized rights of children.
Infants who are poor and malnourished are more likely to contract respiratory infections, diarrhea, measles, and other preventable diseases, and are less likely to receive needed health care.
According to UNAIDS and UNICEF, by the end of 2001 there were an estimated 14,000,000 children under the age of 15 who had lost one or both parents to AIDS.
As the number of HIV cases increases in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, as well as in Eastern Europe and Asia, the death rate from AIDS among adults in those regions is expected to increase. By 2010 the total number of children in those regions who will lose one or both parents to AIDS is expected to be approximately 30,000,000.
One-third of children born from an HIV-infected mother develop HIV/AIDS. Few of these children have access to HIV/AIDS medications.
Globally, more than 12,000,000 young people ages 15 to 24 are living with HIV/AIDS, and each day another 6,000 young people became infected with HIV. New estimates indicate that more than 70 percent of new HIV cases among this age group in sub-Saharan Africa are young women and girls.
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