A new study by the Regional Network on AIDS, Livelihoods and Food Security (RENEWAL) and the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and AIDS (JLICA) shows that cash transfers have great potential to reduce poverty and protect the human capital of children in AIDS-affected families:

• Cash transfer programs have been effective in many countries devastated by HIV/AIDS in eastern and southern Africa, helping to prevent destitution among HIV/AIDS-affected families. These programs are feasible on a large scale and are already assisting tens of millions of people.
• Cash transfers prevent the loss of education, health, and nutrition among children in AIDS-affected families. These losses would otherwise have irreversible consequences, which are passed on through generations.
• Cash transfers can ensure that people affected by HIV and AIDS have enough food. Good nutrition slows the progression of AIDS and is necessary for the effectiveness of ARVs.
• It is critical that governments in heavily AIDS-affected countries, the international donor community, and civil society organizations come together to muster the political will to sustain and expand cash transfer programs as part of a comprehensive response to the AIDS epidemic.
• More than a dozen countries in Sub-Saharan Africa currently have cash transfers programs, including Ethiopia, Malawi, and Zambia, and more countries are planning or considering them.
• As of 2006, over 15.2 million children under 18 had lost at least one parent to AIDS. About 80 percent live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of these children are cared for by extended families and communities, which were already very poor before affected by the AIDS epidemic.
• In addition to orphaned children, millions more are affected by HIV and AIDS as illness in families and communities undermines physical and psychological well-being and the ability to work, earn income, and care for children.
• Cash transfers can take many forms, and can be targeted to individuals (e.g., an elderly or disabled person) or households, but they always aim to help the poorest people. Cash assistance can be used for current, basic needs (such as food and clothing), to pay for school fees or transportation, or to invest in other assets, such as healthcare.

Source: Adato and Bassett, 2008. What Is the Potential of Cash Transfer to Strengthen Families Affected by HIV and AIDS: A Review of the Evidence on Impacts and Key Policy Debates (IFPRI/RENEWAL and JLICA)