The Growing Crisis of Africa's Orphans

There are more than 50 million children orphaned on the continent of Africa. To put this in perspective, as one of our witnesses today, Shimwaayi Muntemba, has pointed out, the orphans of Africa, if grouped together in a single country, would be the fourth-largest country in all of Africa after Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The factors contributing to this crisis are varied, starting with civil war and civil unrest, which have displaced millions, wars that have led to the deaths of parents and other adult relatives, leaving children to fend for themselves, or sometimes children who are separated from their parents in a mad flight for sanctuary, never learning if their moms or dads are alive or dead. Other children are indirect victims of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has wreaked such devastating havoc on the continent, or other diseases. As with many of the humanitarian crises that confront the continent, there is a big-picture aspect, which we as Congress need to address. There are important strategic implications of so many children and adolescents left without moms or dads.