No security threat from AIDS orphans - ISS

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS), a South African think-tank, has argued that Southern African AIDS orphans might not pose the security threat suggested by some analysts.

In their report, 'A Generation at Risk? HIV/AIDS, Vulnerable Children and Security in Southern Africa', ISS says: "While orphaning is on the increase and will have risen exponentially in most countries by 2010, relatively few children [are] living in situations of extreme vulnerability."

ISS notes that although some AIDS orphans may face "precarious circumstances", many are linked to support networks and benefit from non-parental adult relationships.

Senior AIDS and security researcher at ISS, Robyn Pharoah, told a local newspaper, Business Day, that the idea of orphans being cast "onto the fringes of society [and] threatening security" was inaccurate.