COUNSELLING FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS WITH TARGET CLIENTS (THE NIGERIAN ADOLESCENTS AND YOUTHS)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background to the study

The purpose of this project was to examine the counselling for sustainable livelihoods with target clients (the Nigerian adolescents and youths) in Lagos state aged between 18-30years after they have passed through programs that support orphan and vulnerable children. This study was conducted for professional reasons as a development  practitioner; it is my personal conviction that livelihood analysis will provide a basis for understanding the socioeconomic condition of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their survival strategies after an OVC program. This includes factors that further exposes them to vulnerability and the role of the development practitioners  in facilitating, promoting, and compelling shared responsibility for the change that need to happen in the socioeconomic circumstances of the OVC.  The  choice to work on the counselling for sustainable livelihoods of Nigerian adolescents and youths after an OVC program was inspired by my inability to find answers from directors of some OVC programs on what actually happens to the youths after the programs. There were no clear records or responses on what the youths were doing to survive and programs to continue from where OVC programs stopped. The study sought to find out whether surviving on their own at their age (18-30yrs) will increase their susceptibility to HIV. The findings will be shared with GCAF, other NGOs, CBOs, FBOs, and funding organisations. There is an increase in the plight and number of OVCs in Nigeria. The estimated number is 17.5 million OVCs, were 7.3 million children out of them were orphaned by AIDS (Nigeria OVC Situation Analysis, 2008). One in every ten (1 in 10) children living in households are orphaned (mother, father or both).The proportion of orphans to non- orphans are varied by geo-political zones. Being that the population of Lagos state is high (18 million people), there is a possibility of a high proportion of orphans in Lagos state, but currently there is no accurate estimate (FMWA Nigeria, 2008). The alarming current situation is that the full impact of the disease is yet to be felt.  Estimates suggests that by 2010, 25 million African children will be orphaned due to AIDS and that by 2020, an additional 55 million Africans will lose their lives to the epidemic. This could cause devastating long-term developmental impacts on children, their communities, and the future of these countries due to absence of adequate care and support.

Youth orphans require different kinds of assistance when compared to children orphans. In some ways their needs are more complex than the needs of younger orphans because of physical and psychological development during puberty and the steps needed to move toward independence and adulthood. The needs of OVC vary according to age, gender, socioeconomic status, and geography. Various studies and research tools have recently contributed to the development of more effective and targeted strategies for specific sub-sets of the OVC population. This study was essentially focused on youth orphans. This study was conducted via internet search for published literature and publications relevant to the subject matter under discourse, reading published materials, books and journals as well as via discussion with key informants (orphans that have previously passed through vocational skill training programs and project officers in NGOs providing vocational skills development services for OVC) in suburban poor communities in Lagos, Nigeria. Primarily articles were searched and retrieved, as these were accessible, and perceived to be more responsive to current ideas and learning.