Day of the African Child Anti-Stigma Champions Event

On Monday 16^th June, the first lady of Tanzania, Mama Salma Kikwete and Mrs. Sue Green, wife of the U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania celebrated the Day of the African Child by becoming Champions against the Stigma experienced by orphans and vulnerable children. Mama Kikwete and Mrs. Green are leading the way in challenging and addressing stigma that is harmful to children. Mama Salma and Mrs. Green conveyed the message that stigma against orphans and vulnerable children is unjust, unwarranted and unwelcome in Tanzania.  The event will be hosted by WAMA, the Wanawake na Maendeleo Foundation, supported by USAID and organized by Pact Tanzania.  More than 70 children participated in the event and were given the opportunity to share experiences of stigma and discrimination through drama, song and stories. Other attendees were dignitaries from the Government of Tanzania, international NGOs, and the media. The key messages for this event were:

1. All children are our children; treat every child as your own
2. Every child has the right to be loved and cared for without discrimination
3. Together we can overcome stigma experienced by children

The event was supported by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania (GoT). The event was organized and coordinated by the Jali Watoto Initiative, with additional support from PASADA (Pastoral Activities and Services for People living with HIV/AIDS in Dar es Salaam Arch Diocese ).The Jali Watoto Initiative is being implemented by Pact Tanzania.

Mama Kikwete and Mrs. Green were appointed Champions against Stigma by three orphaned children. They were provided sashes and brooches identifying them as Champions. Both pledged to be outspoken voices against stigma and discrimination and promised to travel around Tanzania promoting positive messages and working to reduce the stigma children face.

Although the donor funding provides education materials and uniforms for many orphans and vulnerable children, when children experience stigma, are ridiculed, teased in school, or ostracized at school, they often stop attending school and are unable to use the support provided. In other instances, children and their families affected by HIV /AIDS are provided with Community Health Care cards through PEPFAR funds. However when some patients have used these cards to attend a health clinic, they are discouraged from returning by the stigma and fear they experience there. 

Stigma is fueled by fear and misunderstanding about how HIV is transmitted. Many people still wrongly believe that HIV can be contracted through sharing a meal with someone who has HIV, through caring for someone with HIV, or even by shaking an infected person’s hand. Some people believe that every child who has lost his or her parents to HIV is able to transmit the virus. Children can face discrimination, unfair treatment, abuse and exploitation at the hands and in the homes of those who they had hoped would care for them after the death of their parents, which can lead to children running away from home.   On the streets, children are often abused, exploited and further discriminated against.

Children who lose their parents to HIV /AIDS suffer the trauma and stress of bereavement, insecurity, and the loss of those who provided them with the greatest love and care.   When these children also experience stigma and discrimination, this adds greatly to their distress. While children were once absorbed into the extended family and treated as equals to the biological children in those families, some children now experience stigma and discrimination even within their own extended family. 

Pact Tanzania has produced two chapters as part of a toolkit on Understanding and Challenging Stigma, and used those chapters to train over 3,000 community leaders, teachers, health care workers, volunteers from NGOs /FBOs and members of Most Vulnerable Children’s Committees (MVCCs) to address stigma.   Pact has also trained Bongo Flava artists, and launched songs challenging stigma at World AIDS Day last year.  Toolkits were presented to Mama Kikwete and Mrs. Green and the Bongo Flava artists performed the 3 anti stigma songs throughut the morning. Children from the Dogodogo Center presented a drama and dance on what children face when they are orphaned and the abuse they face in terms of inheritance and moving on with their lives.