African grandmothers have called for financial security, respect for their rights and increased resources to raise grandchildren orphaned by AIDS, following a historic gathering in Manzini, Swaziland. Describing themselves as the backbones of their communities, the women declared, ‘Africa cannot survive without us.’ Across sub-Saharan Africa, grandmothers now form the core of family and community-based care, raising a generation of children orphaned by AIDS.