The factors contributing to this crisis are varied. starting with war and civil unrest. which have displaced millionswars that have led to the deaths of parents and other adult relatives. leaving children to fend for themselves. Or sometimes children are separated from their parents in a mad flight for sanctuary. never learning if their mothers and fathers are alive or dead. They may never know if they are orphaned in reality. or if both parents turn out to have survived and are alive in a refugee camp somewhere else. Such parents. too. agonize over what ever happened to their children. Other children are indirect victims of HIV/ AIDS. which has wreaked such devastating havoc on the continent. or other diseases.