AIDS is the leading cause of death worldwide for people aged 15-49. There are more than 33.2 million people living with HIV & AIDS, nearly 22.5 million of which live in sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 6,000 people die every day from AIDS.1 The SEEP Network has started a crosssectoral initiative to bring together microenterprise development and public health professionals to confront and combat the challenge of HIV & AIDS.

From September 24th to October 1st, 2008, the SEEP Network hosted the online conference Learning the ABCs of OVCs with guest speaker Saeed Bancie of Heifer International. The conference was a follow-up to a roundtable discussion moderated by the SEEP Network and Heifer International at the Making Cents International Global Youth Enterprise Conference in Washington, D.C. on September 16th, 2008. The roundtable focused on utilizing market-based approaches to design programming for youth and orphans impacted by HIV & AIDS, and the follow-up conference further explored this theme with the following key issues:

1. Adaptation of microenterprise development services to working with orphans and vulnerable children (“A” is for Adaptation)
2. Measuring the benefits and impact of this type of integrated programming (“B” is for Benefits)
3. The costs of this type of programming (“C” is for Costs)
4. Fostering livelihood development of OVCs through programming (Learning the ABCs while Becoming the Breadwinners)