Evidence suggests that the phenomenon of residential care has been growing in recent years due to a complex interplay of different factors, among them HIV and AIDS. To date, there is no systematic information on the numbers of children living with or directly affected by HIV who are placed in residential care, the reasons for and the impacts of their placement on individual children, their families and communities and on the residential care facilities themselves.
In recognition of the need to know more about these issues, UNICEF commissioned EveryChild and Maestral International to provide technical assistance and evidence collection in relation to the care of children living with HIV in residential care. Through a combination of desk-based research and in-country data collection, the focus of this exercise is primarily on the extent, quality, impacts and responses to residential care for boys and girls (0-18 years) living with or directly affected by HIV. This report provides information from the desk-based component of this study, which is based on an extensive review of published and grey literature, and information gathered from experts working in this field.