Rwanda considers a double orphan is a child who has lost both parents (MIGEPROF
2008). Rwanda has a large number of orphans resulting from the combined effects of
the 1994 genocide and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The genocide of 1994 has left
Rwanda with a significant number of children who have no relatives (Boris and al.
2006, UNICEF 2007). Twenty per cent of the Rwandan population under 21 are
orphans. At the Rwanda national level, double orphans are 2.7% (NISR 2012).
With the decline in the traditional foster care system, a new phenomenon emerged
whereby young people are heading households as a “family” without parents. The
oldest sibling becomes the head of the household and fulfils the responsibility of
caring for the younger siblings (UNICEF 2001; Schaal &Elbert; 2006). Siblings living
in Households headed by youth (YHHs) are common in Rwanda. These siblings in
YHHs form a “family” that provides support and continuity (McAdam-Crisp (2006).
They deal with the adult responsibilities of supporting themselves at an age when the
care and the protection of an adult are normally needed (Schaal & Elbert 2006).They
assume an anthropological and psychosocial position for which they were never
prepared (Boris & al. 2006). YHHs are a new phenomenon of alternative family as a
symbol of a social safety that is breaking down (Roalkvan 2005) shown by the
increasing of double orphans without relative in Sub-Sahara Africa (UNICEF 2006;
Barnet 2005). Young person are those considered as such by the society (African
Union 2006). In Rwanda, the “youth” is made up of persons aged between 14 and 35
years old (NISR 2010/2011). However, this study looks at people who are in
Household sibling-headed in Rwanda. Rwanda has 2.7% of double orphans within the
twenty per cent of the Rwandan population under 21 years old who are orphans
(NISR 2012).