Rethinking 'Vulnerability' and Social Protection for Children Affected by AIDS

Common conceptions of vulnerability' for social protection to meet the needs of children affected by AIDS are problematic. There are partial & divergent understandings of vulnerability in health & livelihood literatures. A common sense reconciliation of three dichotomies core to the concept is instead proposed. Understanding the vulnerability of children affected by AIDS requires an HIV-focused analysis. Children are also developing sexual agents & integral to the very dynamics of the epidemic. Transformative social protection should be well suited to this more balanced proactive understanding of vulnerability & agency but targeting has largely failed to capture full vulnerability. Labels such as 'AIDS orphan' are unhelpful, & targeting vulnerable households is a better way to reach vulnerable children. However, it is fundamentally inadequate to reach the most vulnerable & those key to the epidemic, such as the growing numbers living on the streets. Adapted from the source document.