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AIDS, poverty and conflict threaten family structures

    JOHANNESBURG

    The African family structures is threatened by HIV/AIDS, poverty and conflict, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.

    UNICEF executive director, Carol Bellamy said the extended family was Africa’s greatest asset but HIV/AIDS, poverty and conflict had undermined its cohesion to such an extent that it had become powerless in protecting children and teaching values.

    "Weakened family structures will bury the future of Africa’s children and with it, the future of the continent," Bellamy said recently in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa

    Conflict is widespread in Africa and research shows that some 12 million people have been displaced within their own countries while 11 million orphans are attributed to AIDS and 9,500 people are infected daily.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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