Vulnerability mean "a high probability of a negative outcome", or an expected welfare loss above a socially accepted norm, which results from risky/uncertain events, and the lack of appropriate risk management instruments. Vulnerability is shaped by risk and stress characteristics such as magnitude, frequency, duration, and scope, to which individuals, households and communities are exposed. This implies that vulnerability is a relative state - a multifaceted continuum between resilience and absolute helplessness. Although critical child vulnerability and exclusion does not have to be assigned to any particular group affiliation, the most critically vulnerable children in Africa are often members of one or several of the following categories:​
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1. Street Children​
There are two main definitional categories of street children: "children of the street", commonly understood as children with no real home to go to, and "children on the street", who work or spend extensive time in public spaces, either alone or with relatives, guardians or other children, but have some sort of home. There are, however, significant gray zones between the two categories. First, in some urban slum settings a "home" can be relatively hard to define (what constitutes a home - roof, walls, a casserole?). Second, children who have chosen or been forced to leave home sometimes continue visiting one or both parents or other relatives or caretakers, sometimes sleeping indoors.​

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2. Orphans
“​An orphan is a child under the age of 18 who has either lost one or both parents” (Safaids, issue 60: June 2004)
Both UNICEF and UNAIDS define an orphan “as a child under 15 who has lost his or her mother (maternal orphan) or both parents (double parents)”. However, the definition excludes the following categories of orphans:
(a) Paternal orphans: children whose father has died
(b) Orphans between 15-17
​Children, particularly orphans are among the most vulnerable groups in each society. The reason being that “there are few support systems outside the family for them.” (Safaids: issue 60: June 2004:1)
​​Malnutrition is among the greatest and immediate risk orphans face. Secondly, they are often denied access to education because members of their extended family can no longer afford it. Orphans are usually emotionally deprived, financially challenged and desperate. It is because of this desperation that these children are sexually abused and in some cases they end up being commercial sex workers.

 

3. Children under severe poverty​
​Poverty can make children to be vulnerable to community shocks. it reduce and affect the self protection and resilience of the children and also it also weakens the community in the protection and sustainable of the children in every community

 

4. Children Affected by HIV/AIDS​
There are four main categories of children affected by HIV/AIDS:
(a) ​Children who live with parents infected with HIV/AIDS. They may experience neglect as a result of parental illness, suffer social stigma, be responsible for caring for sick parents and younger siblings, have experienced abandonment by one parent who leaves to escape the others illness, or simply live with great insecurity and anxiety as they wait for their parents to become sick(er) and eventually die. Property grabbing sometimes happens even while the parents are alive, but too ill to defend themselves.
(b) Children who are orphaned by HIV/AIDS. This includes maternal, paternal or double orphans. It is important to note that children living with a step parent or a co-wife can be particularly vulnerable in their own household, even if one of the parents is still alive.
(c) Children who are infected with HIV/AIDS. Infected children generally live with one or both parents, but they can also be orphaned or rejected (most common for infants and youth) and end up in institutional care or in the streets. Infected children often experience social stigma that may result in their being refused access to school or other services. In addition, they have special health care needs that must be addressed.
(d) Children who live away from home because of HIV/AIDS. Some children have left their homes because of the way the disease has affected their primary caretakers​

5. Children in the Forms of Child Labor​
According to the ILO Convention 182, the so-called worst Forms Convention, the worst forms of child labor include:
• All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
• The use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
• The use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;
• Work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.
The last point more generally refers to children who are exposed to very long working hours and physical hazards, which in Africa most commonly includes children working in mines and quarries, some child domestic servants, and some children involved in agricultural tasks such as those involving the application of agrochemicals.​

6. Children Affected by Armed Conflict​
Armed conflict can make children critically vulnerable in a multitude of ways. they may suffer indirectly as their parents' livelihood is affected by market breakdowns caused by the conflict. Such problems are compounded when the child's community and family become exposed to violence. As a result of acts of war, children can become orphaned, disabled, traumatized, or end up unaccompanied or with disabled or traumatized parents and siblings. Social safety networks are typically destroyed or overburdened, so even those not directly affected may be left without adequate risk management instruments on hand. Vulnerability is particularly high among refugee and internally displaced children, who live in temporary camps that present a host of new risks, including epidemics, insecurity, prostitution, etc. A special category of war affected children is referred to as "children associated with armed groups" which include current or former child soldiers, messengers, spies, support staff and sex slaves.​
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7. Children Living with Disabilities

The United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for People with Disabilities define disability as: "a physical, intellectual or sensory impairment, medical conditions or mental illness, whether long or short-term, which leads to the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the life of the community on an equal level with others." Sometimes a mild impairment can lead to more of a disability than a significant impairment, depending on the circumstances. These impairments lead to disability if they prevent the child from participating in things like school, play, and other community activities. See also ICF: International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. (Also, refer to the World Bank's disability site.)

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8. Children facing abuse
Child abuse consists of any act of commission or omission that endangers or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and development. Child abuse includes any damage done to a child which cannot be reasonably explained and which is often represented by an injury or series of injuries appearing to be non-accidental in nature.

Forms of Child Abuse

• Physical abuse​​​

Any non-accidental injury to a child. This includes hitting, kicking, slapping, shaking, burning, pinching, hair pulling, biting, choking, throwing, shoving, whipping, and paddling.
 

• Sexual abuse

Any sexual act between an adult and child. This includes fondling, penetration, intercourse, exploitation, pornography, exhibitionism, child prostitution, group sex, oral sex, or forced observation of sexual acts.
 

• Neglect

Failure to provide for a child’s physical needs. This includes lack of supervision, inappropriate housing or shelter, inadequate provision of food and water, inappropriate clothing for season or weather, abandonment, denial of medical care and inadequate hygiene.
 

• Emotional abuse

Any attitude or behavior which interferes with a child’s mental health or social development. This includes yelling, screaming, name-calling, shaming, negative comparisons to others, telling them they are “bad, no good, worthless” or “a mistake.” It also includes the failure to provide the affection and support necessary for the development of a child’s emotional, social, physical and intellectual well-being. This includes ignoring, lack of appropriate physical affection (hugs), not saying “I love you,” withdrawal of attention, lack of praise and lack of positive reinforcement
 

• Substance abuse

is an element of the definition of child abuse or neglect s. Circumstances that are considered abuse or neglect include:
• Prenatal exposure of a child to harm due to the mother's use of an illegal drug or other substance
• Manufacture of methamphetamine in the presence of a child
• Selling, distributing, or giving illegal drugs or alcohol to a child
• Use of a controlled substance by a caregiver that impairs the caregiver's ability to adequately care for the child

9. Local OVC Groups ​
There are also special local OVC groups whom must be taken into consideration. These should be identified both at a national level and in communication with the beneficiary communities.
1. children living with a step parent​
Mostly children who are staying with a step father risks and chances of abuse and neglect are high. Also in Bulawayo most girls got pregnant in the ages of 16-21 when they will be still in school, this lead to a rise of children with less support and care

 

10. Children in Multiple OVC Categories​
The categories presented here are neither exhaustive nor exclusive. Many critically vulnerable children fall into many of the categories. For instance, street children can also be orphans or disabled. Children affected by armed conflict can be all of the above.​