Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Nigeria: Integrated Child Health and Social Services Award

(2019 – 2025)

In late 2019, the Nigeria-based NGO Society for Family Health (SFH) partnered with the American International Health Alliance (AIHA), the Save the Children Federation (SCF), and the Twinning for Health Support Initiative (THSI-N), a Nigerian NGO established by AIHA, to implement a five-year cooperative agreement from USAID titled the Integrated Child Health and Social Services Award (ICHSSA 3). The goal of this project was to integrate evidence-informed strategies to enhance services, systems, and social support for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Nigeria’s Kano State.

The Issue:

By the end of 2023, UNICEF estimated that 14.1 million children under the age of 18 worldwide had lost one or both parents to HIV or AIDS-related causes, with some 87 percent of these young people living in sub-Saharan Africa. UNICEF further reported that millions more children face a heightened risk of poverty, homelessness, school dropout, discrimination, and loss of opportunities. Nigeria is home to an estimated 2.5 million OVC.

Since the mid-2000s, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has devoted significant resources to addressing this key population. Currently, there are 22 countries that have PEPFAR supported OVC programs, including Nigeria.

AIHA’s focus under ICHSSA 3 was rooted in our dynamic and highly impactful Social Welfare Workforce and OVC Initiative implemented through the HIV/AIDS Twinning Center Program. This included our Nigeria Social Work and OVC Initiative in Enugu State (2014-2018) and the USAID-funded Sustainable Mechanisms for Improving Livelihoods and Household Empowerment (SMILE) program, a project led by Catholic Relief Services that scaled up care and support services for OVC in five states in Central Nigeria (2014-2017). Under both these projects, AIHA strengthened training programs for social workers by adding content related to care and support for OVC and established training and certification programs for Auxiliary Social Workers – community-based para-professionals who were armed with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively address the day-to-day needs of children and their caregivers.

Working to achieve the ICHSSA 3 program objective to ensure that OVC are cared for and protected by their households, communities, and local and state governments through civil society and partnerships, AIHA and THSI-N delivered a full package of technical assistance activities to build the capacity of local and state governments, namely well-trained human resources to protect and provide care and support services for vulnerable children and their caregivers.

Initial Project Activities & Accomplishments

The ICHSSA 3 Team kicked off the project by adapting the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance‘s Social Welfare Workforce Mapping and Assessment 2019 Toolkit to the Nigerian context and conducting a baseline gap assessment of social worker capacity and community case management in Kano State. The team created a 3-part ecological questionnaire specific to ICHSSA 3 program goals, namely social welfare workforce planning; social welfare workforce development and training; and social welfare workforce support. This baseline assessment served to guide all subsequent phases of institutional social welfare workforce curriculum development.

Government agencies and traditional leaders from Kano State Assembly, Kano State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (KSACA), the Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA), the Hospital Management Board, and the Ministry of Education formed a coalition to champion OVC services throughout their communities.

AIHA and THSI-N worked to integrate the Auxiliary Social Work (ASW) curriculum into Kano State Polytechnic‘s course offerings, graduating the first 74 students in May 2023. By the end of 2024, 523 ASWs were trained and certified through this program. From the beginning, AIHA focused on sustainability of the ASW program, mobilizing additional students for enrollment and working with the office of the State Head Service to ensure that the ASW position is imbedded in the State scheme of services.

AIHA also led implementation of other areas of social services such as positive parenting, education, child protection, mental health counseling, and obtaining birth registration and certification, as well as establishing Kids & Adolescent Clubs, Caregiver Forums, and Community Child Protection Committees. Here are some specific highlights:

Nagari na Kowa (Sinivoyo) – a training program for parents / caregivers and adolescents comprised of 14 weeks of sessions focused on developing effective parenting, communication, and relationship-building activities. Initially, AIHA formed 171 cohorts, each with 20 caregivers and 20 adolescents; nearly 5,000 individuals completed the initial training and – throughout the life of the project – AIHA trained 56,366 parents.
Birth Registration and Certification – without proper birth registration and certification, children lack legal proof of their identity and often cannot access essential government services such as healthcare, education, and social safety support and services. AIHA successfully registered 76 percent of all children enrolled in the project.
Community Child Protection Committees – AIHA established a total of 227 CCPCs across the project states.
Kids & Adolescents Clubs – AIHA established a total of 342 of these clubs, enrolling more than 56,456 children throughout the project states.

Some 68,342 children enrolled in the project (95%) demonstrated excellent attendance at school and 77 percent performed satisfactorily on their final exams.

Project Spotlight:

Caregivers Adopt Appropriate Parenting Practices through Nagari na Kowa (Sinivoyo)

The methodology and approach on which this component of the project was based were designed by Clowns Without Borders, a U.S. nonprofit dedicated to the belief that everyone has the right to play and laugh. They trained ICHSSA 3 facilitators in their approach and the project team built the capacity of caregivers and adolescents on topics ranging from parenting styles, family budgeting, and discipline to conflict resolution, praising each other, anger management, and spending quality time together as a family. The intervention served to strengthen family relationships and build a happy home through positive parenting in keeping with global best practices.

Click the link to read some Nagari na Kowa Testimonials.

Below are a few snapshots from Nagari na Kowa (Sinivoyo) sessions.

Birth Registration and Certification:

Without official birth registration and certification, children cannot readily access needed services and support.

In 2020, UNICEF reported that one in three children born worldwide are not officially registered. When children lack legal proof of their identity, they are often denied essential government services such as healthcare, education, and social safety support and services.

Through the social and legal protection component of ICHSSA 3, AIHA successfully achieved 76 percent birth registration and certification rates among children enrolled in the project. This was achieved through collaboration and partnership with National Population Commission (NPopC) and other health facilities within the project states.

Educational Support for OVC

Through this component of ICHSSA 3, AIHA conducted community assessments in schools, reaching a total of 71,935 pupils initially. The assessments focused on school performance, attendance, retention, and psychosocial wellbeing using a nationally-approved survey tool, which is a routine part of monitoring progress at school and through home visits. The results showed that:

69,456 of the children surveyed attended school regularly without missing two days of regular academic class in a given month;
66,432 children showed steady performance in the last three sessions;
68,342 resumed school early and never missed out on school;
55,432 performed credibly well in the last exams they took.
37,621 across Kano and Niger states were identified as most vulnerable children and AIHA mobilized additional support from their communities, local governments, and the private sector to ensure they could participate in school and have access to critical services.

AIHA mobilized financial and material support to empower some of the most vulnerable children to attend school.

AIHA conducted similar assessments in FY24, reaching a total of 88,532 children and revealing that 82 percent attended school regularly without missing three days in a month; 79 percent performed above average in their most recent exams, while 12 percent showed signs of withdrawal and poor performance.

Community structures – including those established through the project, such as Community Child Protection Committees (CCPC) and the Community Quality Improvement Team (CQIT) – conducted routine school visits during the year to help ensure all enrolled children were attending school regularly and performing well. We also worked to mobilize parents and caregivers, stressing the importance of education and the need to make sure children attended school regularly. These CCPCs and the CQITs identified and re-enrolled 836 boys and 978 girls for a total of 1,812 back in school. AIHA mobilized scholastic materials for 930 boys and 1,109 girls – 2,089 in total – throughout Borno, Jigawa, and Kano during FY24. Similarly, the CQIT in Fagge supported the government secondary school in Kwachiri with various renovations and furniture, as well as a first aid box and sanitary materials.

Community Child Protection Committees (CCPCs)

CCPCs harness community-level support to help ensure children’s needs are met and no one slips through the cracks.

Over the course of the project, AIHA established a total of 233 Community Child protection Committees (CCPC) across the project states: 187 in Kano; 18 in Niger; 15 in Jigawa; eight in Borno; and five in Yobe. A key responsibility of these CCPCs is to ensure all children are protected against abuse and exploitation so they are able to attain their full potential in life. The CCPCs reported and followed up on 321 cases of abuse, including 56 criminal prosecutions, in collaboration with the security agents and Legal Aid Council.

Local governments, communities, and members of the CCPCs demonstrated a high level of commitment to ensuring that children in their implementing communities were safe and well protected against all forms of abuse. AIHA provided targeted training to CCPC members, ensuring they were empowered with the knowledge and skills they need to identify early warning signs of abuse and work within the child protection system. In FY24, CCPCs identified a total of 1,405 cases of child abuse in the project states and reported them to the Government of Nigeria, along with identifying and reporting an additional 7,012 minor cases of concern. The CCPCs also played a vital role in accessing birth registration and certification for children enrolled in the project and worked closely to mobilize resources and reenroll children into school.

Caregiver Forums to Support OVC Access to Age-appropriate Educational Development, Health, and Protection Services

By the conclusion of ICHSSA 3 in February 2025, AIHA had established a total of 327 Caregiver Forums across the project states: 203 in Kano; 76 in Niger; 25 in Yobe; 15 in Jigawa; and eight in Borno. Collectively comprised of 652 men and 36,689 women for a total of 37,668 caregivers, these Forums meet monthly to strengthen the capacity of parents and caregivers who directly provide care for children enrolled in the project, provide an opportunity to discuss challenges, and share successes and best practices.

In FY24, as the project prepared for closeout, ICGSSA 3 focused its activities on sustainability and dissemination of lessons learned across all project states. In addition to capacity building activities and information sharing that built the caregivers resilience to withstand moderate shocks and reawaken their confidence in building their trade and livelihood. The members of the forum had their capacity built around the concepts of parenting skills, adequate nutrition for children, gender norms, child protection, stress management and burnout, balancing household chores and caregiving responsibilities, financial planning and resource management, self-care and prioritizing one’s own need, and linkages and collaboration to access social needs. Health and hygiene topics including prevention of meningitis, cholera, and other communicable diseases were also covered along with lessons learned during routine home visits.

Kids & Adolescent Clubs

Kids & Adolescent Clubs create an opportunity for children to collectively find ways of coping, mobilizing community support, and developing life skills such as conflict management, seeking help, self-expression through drama, poetry, plays, etc., and taking care of others.

AIHA Social Work Advisor for the ICHSSA 3 Project Abdullahi Abubakar (standing near the left in the black shirt) during a Kids Club meeting in Jigagwa.

By the conclusion of the project, AIHA had established 426 Kids & Adolescents Clubs that served some 65,321 children across the states: 322 in Kano; 76 in Niger; 16 in Jigawa; seven in Borno; and five in Yobe. Kids & Adolescents Club activities were a key component of psycho-social care and support services for OVC during the project and beyond. Activities help build resilience and coping skills among children through games, lessons, and role-plays that stimulate children’s intellectual, physical, and emotional wellbeing. ICHSSA 3 recognized and ensured that all activities were age appropriate. AIHA conducted risk assessments of all fields of play to avoid injuries. The platform also served as a forum to explore gender norms, ARSH, adolescent VSLA among others for older children.

AIHA’s Social Welfare Advisor Abdullahi Abubakar shared his thoughts on the project and what is important for its sustainability. Click to read the Abdullahi Abubakar Interview.

Below are some snapshots from Kids & Adolescent Club meetings.

Updated January 28, 2025.