Children in Crisis
The biggest problem affecting children in the Dominican Republic is poverty. More than 55% of children between 0 and 12 years of age live in poverty.
And then there HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS accompanies poverty, is spread by poverty and produces more poverty in return.
In the Dominican Republic there are more than 3,600 children living with HIV, and 57,000 whose parents are infected or have died due to AIDS related illnesses. Because many HIV infected people in the Dominican Republic still don't have access to antiretrovirals, many children end up becoming orphans.
Children affected by HIV/AIDS not only suffer because of poverty and orphanhood, they also suffer as a result of the stigma and discrimination that accompanies this disease. Research has shown that many of these children suffer emotional distress and have high levels of feel fear, anxiety, guilt and depression.
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