Children and COVID-19 Research Library

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cambodia had one of the longest periods of school closure in the region with face-to-face education suspended for more than half of the official school calendar over the years 2020 and 2021. It led to substantial learning gaps among students of all grades. To address those, significant investments are now needed in remedial education in the country. To contribute to this effort and to collect more evidence on how to address these learning gaps, World Vision International Cambodia piloted the Catch-Up Learning project in April and May 2022. The present report presents the key learnings from this pilot project and includes recommendations on how to better respond to the COVID-19 learning crisis in Cambodia.

The fight against COVID-19 and new variants is not over. Vaccines have demonstrated an incredible effectiveness at preventing serious COVID-19 disease. The best way now to protect and build on the progress made so far is to help as many people as possible around the world to get COVID-19 vaccinations while ensuring an ability to act quickly in response to any future developments of the pandemic. This will be critical not only to protect the children and families we serve, but also to protect the entire world against continuing waves of virus variants. Building skills in the promotion of vaccines can also help us to prepare for the next pandemic.

Over the last two years World Vision has conducted multiple research studies, surveys, assessments, and desk reviews to better understand the needs and issues facing the communities we serve. This report was prepared by World Vision’s global COVID-19 response.

From 28 September to 5 October 2021, World Vision’s Syria Response (WVSR) team interviewed 16 Mental Health and Psycho-social Support (MHPSS) staff, including WV staff and colleagues from 6 Syrian-led Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working in the northwest of Syria. They painted a bleak picture, voicing concern about intensifying mental health needs – particularly among women, girls and boys – while funding gaps and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have only added to the challenges of their daily response.

In 2020, an unprecedented 36 MILLON children were on the move. The No Lost Generation’s (NLG)’s Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Taskforce consisting of members from several organizations was set up to contribute to an improved MHPSS response in 6 countries including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt. In the summer of 2021, the taskforce commissioned a survey to examine the status of MHPSS programming in the region, identify gaps in the sector, and offer strategy and policy recommendations based on the surveyed MHPSS providers’ first-hand experience. Additionally, the taskforce wanted to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the ability of these organizations to carry out their MHPSS programs while drawing on lessons learned from the ongoing pandemic.

“Children on the Move” is an umbrella term used to define children who are migrating or are moving due to various reasons that could include conflict, poverty, violence, natural disasters, climate change, discrimination, or lack of access to education or other services. They could be moving within or between countries and with or without their parents or other caregivers. Children affected by forced migration and displacement are one of the world’smost vulnerable populations that suffer from violations of their human rights and experience stressful, traumatic conditions that can have a severe impact on their psychosocial well-being. The root causes of displacement and forced migration are multi-faceted, ranging from political persecution to a lack of economic prospects. Many people find themselves in dramatically deteriorating realities due to the combination of COVID-19, violent conflict, and climate change. Crisis prevention, post-conflict peacebuilding, and effective trauma responses are key elements in tackling the root causes of displacement and in building peace and resilience.

To better understand the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on the lives of vulnerable children in Asia and to make evidence-based policy and programming decisions, World Vision conducted a Rapid Assessment in May 2020. The assessment found that COVID-19 had grossly heightened the vulnerabilities of children in Asia. Families had been experiencing devastating loss of livelihood which led to limited access to food, essential medicines, and basic healthcare. The resulting strain on families increased incidences of physical abuse, early marriage, and the entry of children into exploitative work. The assessment recommended, for the next immediate period, that Asian governments scale-up social protection interventions, increase investment in public works programmes,  target the most vulnerable through government social assistance schemes, provide support to micro, small and medium enterprises, and scale up and provide skill-building for community health workers.

The aftershocks of COVID-19 threaten to undo decades of development gains across the Pacific region. World Vision surveyed 752 households in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu between July and December 2020 to gather first-hand accounts of the impacts of COVID-19 and its aftershocks on communities, families and their children. The findings highlight the human cost of the severe economic recession that has befallen the broader Pacific region since the pandemic, laying bare the region’s vulnerability to future shocks, stresses, and uncertainties.

How COVID-19's impact on hunger and education is forcing children into marriage. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, most experts estimated child marriage would continue for many more decades. Because the pandemic has increased poverty levels and hunger, and decreased access to education, the risk of girls becoming child brides is also increasing. This report pairs data from World Vision’s Youth Healthy Behaviour Survey with global literature to better understand the conditions which enable child marriage and how these conditions may be changing because of the global pandemic. The report analyzes 14,964 observations from children and youth aged 12 to 18 from World Vision programming sites in Ethiopia, Ghana, India, and Zimbabwe. Case studies also provide insights into the lives of girls within these communities.

Children are the cornerstone of any society and as such, they need to be trained and provided with adequate opportunities to ensure their development, survival and rights on the path to their future as adults. Yet most of these children are at early age exposed to dangerous and risky jobs that affect every aspect of their development. This study contributes to a small but growing body of literature that explains the determinants of child activity decisions (including schooling, child labour and household chores) and aims to explore their prevalence in the Lebanese society along with associations with different socio-demographic factors as well as parental beliefs and perceptions around child labour and education.

The COVID-19 crisis has affected everyone, but people living on the world’s margins, including the forcibly displaced who face some of the highest risks but remain the lowest priority in national and global responses to the pandemic. Yet, vaccine justice is not only essential to protect the most at risk but it is also critical to prevent even more catastrophic impact globally. The pandemic will not end anywhere until it ends everywhere

Right now, there are 650 million child brides living in every region of the world. Child marriage is a fundamental violation of human rights, which severely impacts the global economy, peace and security, as well as hampering the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Progress has been made over the last decade, but 2020 saw the greatest surge in child marriage rates in 25 years. Global projections of girls married by 2030 have shot up from 100 million to 110 million, as an additional 10 million girls will now be married due to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. According to anecdotal data from our programmes, between March-December 2020, child marriages more-than doubled in many communities compared to 2019.This report compiles research and data from four unique contexts – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Senegal and Uganda – where World Vision has been working to address the issue of child marriage. In each of these countries, case studies were developed using first-hand accounts of promising practices towards eliminating child marriage.

Violence against children impacts more than one billion children and costs world economies US $7 trillion annually. In 2015, the world’s leaders listed violence against children as one of the top priorities in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, thus acknowledging its serious impact on the health, education and long-term well-being of children and societies. Since then, an increasing number of countries have committed to accelerate progress in ending violence against children. However, progress has been slow and further undermined by the outbreak of COVID-19. Lack of political will and investment in child protection by national governments and donors are considered some of the critical obstacles to achieving results. However, without adequate mechanisms to monitor budget allocations at national or international levels, the quantity and effectiveness of investments are often difficult to determine. This report offers a rare glimpse into the state of donor investment to end violence against children and offers key findings and reccomendations for how to improve the situation in the future.

This publication presents the voices of nearly 200 children and young people from across the Southern Africa region who shared their experiences on how COVID-19 continues to have an impact on their lives. During these conversations children and young people told us about increased isolation and vulnerability, fighting and physical violence at home, sexual abuse from close relatives, and an increased workload once schools closed. Altogether over 62% of the children and young people consulted mentioned having witnessed or experienced violence during the pandemic.

With COVID-19, many children, especially the girl child, have been affected. In this report, children and young people are telling us about the impact COVID-19 has had on their lives, in their families and on their communities and their recommendations to stay safe, healthy and help to fight the further spread of the virus. Children and young people from around the world shared examples of violence at home, child labour, child marriage, online risks and violence in their communities. They, supported by World Vision, are calling on their governments and the international community to support their advocacy and awareness-raising activities and include them in planning the response and reconstruction.