The purpose of this review is to support a process of exploratory child-led research into the needs of child-carers in Angola, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe, with the eventual goal of identifying desired policy and programme responses. It provides a synthesis of findings and issues raised in the available literature on child carers, specifically in the four African countries, and comments on the fit between existing policies and current knowledge. Education, training and advocacy issues must be addressed in order to ease the burden of child-carers.