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Children's Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of HIV and AIDS

A documentation of children’s experiences in Zambia and Kenya

Year of publication 2007

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 82 p.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Document

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) The present paper – the third in the HIV/AIDS Programme Working Paper Series – is based on field research conducted by two grassroots organizations – CINDI-Kitwe in Zambia and GROOTS Kenya in Kenya to map out and document cases of property grabbing from children, in particular those who became orphans due to AIDS. It is intended to explore methods which grassroots organizations use or can use to document their work. The study adopted a creative and unique manner of investigating childr en’s issues that is to work directly with orphans and vulnerable children, not only to prepare the workplan but also to conduct the documentation exercise, i.e. by engaging the children who had lost their properties as data collectors. This study contributes to evidence building on children’s rights, HIV and AIDS, children’s livelihoods and ultimately improved interventions and responses to the crisis.

Language English

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    This paper focuses on legal and institutional aspects of children’s property and inheritance rights in Southern and East Africa. Chapter 2 discusses violations of children’s property and inheritance rights and discusses how the spread of HIV/AIDS has contributed to the violations. Chapter 3 assesses several norms of customary law that aim to protect children’s property and inheritance rights as well as the current practices of customary law that—in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic—serve to c omplicate and limit children’s ability to maintain their rights. Chapter 4 reviews and assesses a selection of international laws and national laws from the countries in the region that influence children’s property and inheritance rights, emphasizing succession and land laws. Several gaps in national legislation and policy that need to be addressed are identified.
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    Children and women's rights to property and inheritance in Mozambique
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    Women and childrens' insecure rights to property and inheritance in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa is not a new issue. The extended family support systems that used to function as social safety nets for widows and orphaned children have weakened as a consequence of societal changes such as economic development, migration and urbanization. This situation has clearly been exacerbated by the AIDS epidemic. Though prevalence is starting to level off, or even decline, in several high preva lence countries, this comes after years of increasing prevalence. In Mozambique, 2007 prevalence was 12.5 percent, an increase from 10.3 percent in 2001. Increasing mortality due to HIV leads to growing numbers of widows (and widowers) and orphans and can amplify the challenges women and children already face in securing their rights to property and inheritance. The main objective of this report is to propose possible entry points for interventions, key messages and activities to lay down the basis for a strategy to secure women and children’s rights to inheritance and property. Its intended audience are government institutions, national and international NGOs and communitybased organizations that could intervene in different areas of work, based on their specific mandates and capacities.
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    Children's Property Inheritance in the Context of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe 2008
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    HIV and AIDS has exacerbated the vulnerability of orphaned children who are suffering in a vicious cycle of poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to education, and insecure livelihoods. Moreover, orphaned children are exposed to various forms of abuse by close family members, many of whom are their guardians. Movable and immovable properties that are left by their deceased parents are often confiscated by such guardians. Consequently, orphaned children suffer, not only from materi al impoverishment, but also from emotional impoverishment due to negligence by their close family members. Secure property and inheritance rights to children can provide the basis for their livelihoods, sense of belonging and future after the death of their parents. It cannot be overemphasized that secure property rights are the single most important rights of children in the era of AIDS. Yet, children's property and inheritance rights have not been given sufficient attention. T his paper investigates children's rights to property and inheritance rights as well as local people's interpretation of children's rights to property in selected communities in Zimbabwe as a case study. It analyses the impact of HIV and AIDS on children's rights to property and community responses to property grabbing. The study is an attempt to unpack the complex realities of children's rights to property on the ground. By doing so, the paper provides concrete recommendations to polic y makers and development agencies on what should be done to protect and strengthen children's rights to property. It is our hope that this paper will be the messenger of the children who were interviewed under the study and that our work can contribute to the protection of property rights and the livelihoods of many other children in the near future.
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