LIBERIA
Case Study
Between 2013 and 2016, Liberia, along with much of West Africa, was gripped by the Ebola epidemic. The enormous loss of life had a huge impact on the country’s most vulnerable children, the youngest of whom were particularly at risk from the disease: 90% of infected infants died of the disease, as well as 80% of children under four.
Those who did manage to escape sickness or death sometimes found their lives devastated by the epidemic in other ways: Ebola was also deadly for working-age adults, the demographic most likely to be parents or caregivers of children. This meant that the number of children without parental care rose very sharply during the epidemic years.
Traditionally in Liberia, kinship care, and other forms of family and community-based care, have been the common practice for children deprived of their family environment. Studies have suggested that newly created orphans in Liberia are often quickly absorbed into families.
However, this practice was somewhat hindered during the Ebola crisis, due both to the fear of contagion and to the sheer volume of children suddenly requiring care. There were also reports of a rise in institutions due to the epidemic – sometimes called ‘Ebola Orphanages’, leading to serious concerns that these orphanages may become ‘hubs’ for human trafficking. In Liberia, as in other countries, orphaned children who have no support structure are vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation, such as street begging and sexual exploitation.
The West African Ebola outbreak offers insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic might impact child protection systems worldwide. Although the age profile for those most at risk of death or severe illness from the COVID-19 virus is older than that of Ebola, there is still likely to be a rise in the number of orphans in many countries. Furthermore, those children already living in the care of elderly relatives, such as grandparents, will be at risk of losing their caregivers. As child protection services grapple with these problems, it is vital that they do not turn to institutionalisation to address them.