Children and COVID-19 Research Library

UNICEF Innocenti's curated library of COVID-19 + Children research

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Journal article

Children's rights impact assessments in times of crisis: learning from COVID-19

AUTHOR(S)
K. Reid; E. K. M. Tisdall; F. Morrison

Published: April 2022 Journal: The International Journal of Human Rights

Policy responses to COVID-19 have illuminated how children and young people’s human rights were all too often side-lined by adult concerns. With mounting queries during the first ‘lockdown’ in Scotland (March 2020), the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland asked the Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland to undertake an independent Children’s Rights Impact Assessment of COVID-19 emergency public health measures on children and young people in Scotland. The resulting analysis proved not only productive for immediate policy advocacy but had broader lessons about how states parties can respect, protect and fulfil children and young people’s human rights at times of crisis and disaster. This requires challenging adult approaches and orientations to policy, so all of children and young people’s rights to provision, protection and participation are met, especially groups of children and young people who may be at particular risk of rights’ violations. This editorial outlines the process and substantive learning from the independent CRIA, from a range of experts, including children and young people.

Cite this research | Open access | Language: English | Topics: Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: children's rights, children's rights advocacy, COVID-19 response, lockdown, social distance

Journal article

Playing through crisis: lessons from COVID-19 on play as a fundamental right of the child

AUTHOR(S)
Theresa Casey; John H. McKendrick

Published: April 2022 Journal: The International Journal of Human Rights

In its COVID-19 Statement of April 2020, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that States Parties explore alternative and creative solutions for children to enjoy their rights to rest, leisure, recreation, and cultural and artistic activities – rights, which along with the right to play, are encompassed in Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This paper reflects on play in times of crisis, giving particular focus to the experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three narratives of play and crisis are introduced – play in crisis; the threat to play in times of crisis; and play as a remedy to crisis. Progressive responses to support play during COVID-19 are appraised. Against a backdrop of innovation and a stimulus to research in play, concerns persist that children’s right to play is not foregrounded, and that the ‘everydayness of play’ is not adequately facilitated.

Journal article

Exacerbating, illuminating and hiding rights issues: COVID-19 and children in conflict with the law

AUTHOR(S)
Fiona Dyer; Claire Lightowler; Nina Vaswani (et al.)

Published: April 2022 Journal: The International Journal of Human Rights

This article explores the impacts of the response to COVID-19 on the rights of children in conflict with the law. It focuses on three significant rights issues: responding to all children as children (UNCRC, Article 1); non-discrimination (UNCRC, Article 2) and deprivation of liberty as a last resort (UNCRC, Article 37). Completing a Child Right's Impact Assessment, a structured approach to considering children's rights issues, helped us identify the key concerns around these three UNCRC articles. This study argues that, while the COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated an erosion of children's rights for those in conflict with the law, the response to the pandemic has primarily compounded and illuminated pre-existing rights issues. It has also further hidden from view some children and their experiences.

Cite this research | Open access | Language: English | Topics: Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: children's rights, children's rights violation, COVID-19 response, justice, lockdown, pandemic, restrictions of rights, social distance

Evidence Synthesis and other Reviews

Reviewing the impact of COVID-19 on children’s rights to, in and through education

AUTHOR(S)
Laura Colucci-Gray

Published: April 2022 Journal: The International Journal of Human Rights

Emergency legislation introduced internationally since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic saw the closure of all levels of educational settings and a shift to remote teaching. Drawing lessons from an independent child rights impact assessment (CRIA) in Scotland, United Kingdom, this paper reviews the impact of COVID-19 measures on children and young people’s rights to, and experiences of, education during the current crisis. Findings highlight that while measures sought to preserve the best interests of children and their basic rights to safety, a distinct lack of consultation on the impacts of the measures undermined the interdependency and indivisibility of children’s human rights. Three human rights principles – participation and inclusion, non-discrimination, and mutual accountability of family and the State – were identified as being particularly significant in this assessment. Looking forward, findings point to the need for extending the range of perspectives involved in child rights impact assessments in times of crisis – where human rights are at even greater risk of being breached – and the significance of a children's rights-based perspective for re-imagining education altogether.

Journal article

Children’s human rights in the contexts of domestic abuse and COVID-19

AUTHOR(S)
Fiona Morrison; Claire Houghton

Published: April 2022 Journal: The International Journal of Human Rights

Domestic abuse is a simultaneous attack on children’s and women’s human rights. Research underlines the relationality of domestic abuse, unveiling the entwined experiences of children and women. While these experiences may be connected, their rights are distinct and there are risks in viewing mothers as proxies for their children. Policy measures introduced to address COVID-19 had profound impacts on the lives of children and women experiencing domestic abuse. Drawing on an independent Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) in Scotland, the article explores the impacts such policy measures had on children’s human rights in the context of domestic abuse. It offers insight on the opportunities and limitations of CRIAs when considering the issue of domestic abuse. CRIAs make visible and prioritise children’s human rights; however, they risk masking the relationality of rights and therefore the implementation of children’s human rights. By integrating human rights instruments – the UNCRC and the Istanbul Convention – the article offers ways to recognise children as victims of domestic abuse, while supporting connections between their rights and the women’s rights. It concludes that a Joint Protocol between the UNCRC and the Istanbul Convention is needed to integrate children’s human rights with the relationality of domestic abuse.

Cite this research | Open access | No. of pages: 17 | Language: English | Topics: Child Protection, Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: child abuse and neglect, children's rights, COVID-19 response, domestic violence, lockdown, social distance, violence against children, violence against women, women's rights

Journal article

Mask mandates for children during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international human rights perspective

AUTHOR(S)
Stephen Thomson

Published: March 2022 Journal: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health

Epidemiological and physical safety issues form the core of the debate on whether children should be mandated to wear face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Largely absent from this debate are the crucial implications of international human rights law. Although the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund have different mask-wearing recommendations for children aged 0-5 years, 6-11 years, and 12+ years, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child applies to children of all ages. Children's human rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other treaties require decision makers to tread particularly carefully when deciding whether to mandate mask-wearing for children. Special consideration must be given to the potential for any detrimental impact of mask-wearing on children's physical, psychological and psychosocial health and wellbeing. Other non-pharmaceutical interventions for children, such as physical distancing, good hand hygiene and improved indoor ventilation do not engage the legal complexities of mask-wearing and are a safer policy option for reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Cite this research | Open access | Language: English | Topics: Health, Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: child health, children's rights, COVID-19 response, ethical research, face masks, human rights, lockdown, social distance

Journal article

Education in a datafied world: balancing children's rights and school's responsibilities in the age of Covid-19

AUTHOR(S)
Emma Nottingham; Caroline Stockman; Maria Burke

Published: March 2022 Journal: Computer Law & Security Review

The Covid-19 pandemic created a situation where online learning extended at speed. During the national lockdowns, when it was not possible for most children to physically attend school, the efficacy and efficiency of digital platforms made it possible for schools to fulfill their duties to provide an education. However, the urgency of the situation carried the risk that this was put in place without adequate consideration of the data protection risks from various online learning tools. Although the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides a framework of regulations and rights to protect users, the legal process is unwieldy to apply due to tensions in balancing the rights of the child learner with the public need to ensure that all children are provided with an education. This paper recommends that changes in digital schooling practices are needed so that children have realistically possible ways of enforcing their data protection rights as well as a clarified and uniformed approach to support schools.

Journal article

Children’s human rights under COVID-19: learning from children’s rights impact assessments

AUTHOR(S)
E. K. M. Tisdall; F. Morrison

Published: February 2022 Journal: The International Journal of Human Rights

Policy responses to COVID-19 have had dramatic impacts on children’s human rights, as much as the COVID-19 pandemic itself. In the rush to protect the human right of survival and development, new policies and their implementation magnified the challenges of taking a children’s rights approach in adult-oriented systems and institutions. This article explores these challenges, drawing on learning from the independent Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) on policies affecting children in Scotland during ‘lockdown’ in spring 2020. The article uses concepts from childhood studies and legal philosophy to highlight issues for children’s human rights, in such areas as children in conflict with the law, domestic abuse, poverty and digital exclusion. The analysis uncovers how persistent constructions of children as vulnerable and best protected in their families led to systematic disadvantages for certain groups of children and failed to address all of children’s human rights to protection, provision and participation. The independent CRIA illuminates gaps in rights’ accountability, such as the lack of children’s rights indicators and disaggregated data, children’s inadequate access to complaints and justice, and the need for improved information to and participation of children.

Journal article

The pains and gains of COVID-19: challenges to child first justice in the pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Kathy Hampson; Stephen Case; Ross Little

Published: February 2022 Journal: Youth Justice

The global COVID-19 pandemic has particularly affected justice-involved children. Youth justice policy changes and innovations have assisted communication and engagement with these vulnerable children during unprecedented times, while attempting to limit risks of contagion and criminalisation – all central tenets of the ‘Child First’ guiding principle for the Youth Justice System of England and Wales. While some changes have enhanced the experiences of some justice-involved children (gains), others have disproportionately disadvantaged justice-involved children in court, community and custody contexts (pains), increasing criminalisation, disengagement and anxiety. These pains of COVID-19 have effectively eroded the rights of this already-vulnerable group of children.

Cite this research | Language: English | Topics: Child Protection, Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: child care, child protection measures, children's rights, COVID-19 response, juvenile justice, lockdown, restrictions of rights, social distance | Countries: United Kingdom

Research Report

Make our voices count: children and young peoples’ responses to a global survey for the day of general discussion 2021 on children’s rights and alternative care

AUTHOR(S)
Kate Butler; Vanessa Currie; Katie Reid (et al.)

Institution: Family for every child
Published: December 2021

This report details children and young people's responses to a global survey for the Day of General Discussion 2021 on Children's Rights and Alternative Care. A total of 1,188 children and young people aged between 5-25-years old took part in the survey to share their views, experiences and ideas. This report will help inform the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion on 16-17 September.

Cite this research | No. of pages: 35 | Language: English | Topics: Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: child care, child well-being, children's rights, children's rights advocacy, COVID-19 response, lockdown, social distance | Publisher: Family for every child

Research Report

Preventing a lost decade: urgent action to reverse the devastating impact of COVID-19 on children and young people

Institution: *UNICEF
Published: December 2021

Almost two years into the pandemic, the widespread impact of COVID-19 continues to deepen, increasing poverty and entrenching inequality. While some countries are recovering and rebuilding in a ‘new normal’, for many, COVID-19 remains a crisis. The human rights of all children are under threat to a degree that has not been seen in more than a generation. The global response so far has been deeply unequal and inadequate. The world now stands at a crossroads. The actions we take now will determine the well-being and rights of children for years to come. As we commemorate UNICEF’s 75th year, this report lays out the work in front of us by taking stock of the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on children and the road to respond and recover to reimagine the future for every child.

Cite this research | No. of pages: 44 | Language: English | Topics: Health, Child Poverty, Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: child health, child poverty, children's rights, COVID-19 response, economic and social conditions, lockdown, right to child care services, social distance | Publisher: *UNICEF

Research Report

WeWorld index 2021: women and children in a changing world

AUTHOR(S)
Elena Caneva; Martina Albini; Stefano Piziali (et al.)

Institution: WeWorld
Published: November 2021

The seventh edition of the WeWorld Index globally evaluates in which dimensions there are forms of inclusion/exclusion of women and children, and captures their living conditions in more than 170 countries in the world. The Index is composed of 34 indicators, grouped into 17 dimensions, which refer to 4 fundamental areas for the implementation of the rights of women and children: health, education, economy and society, in addition to the environmental and cultural context, which is determinant for the quality of life of these two social categories. As the previous edition, the WeWorld Index 2021 considers the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, adding 3 new indicators to the pre-existing 34. In order to integrate quantitative data, the Index is enriched with interviews to witnesses and experts who illustrate, for their direct knowledge, qualitative aspects that numbers alone would not be able to provide.

Cite this research | No. of pages: 92 | Language: English | Topics: Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: child well-being, children's rights, COVID-19 response, economic and social conditions, gender equality, lockdown, social distance, social inequality, women's rights | Publisher: WeWorld

Research Report

The COVID-19 pandemic and the rights of the child in Japan

AUTHOR(S)
Arisa Yamaguchi; Mariko Hosozawa; Ayaka Hasegawa (et al.)

Published: July 2021 Journal: Pediatrics International

Few studies have used direct reports by children to assess how the rights documented in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) have been affected during the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Data were obtained from the CORONA-CODOMO Survey, a web-based survey conducted from April to May 2020 in Japan, targeting children aged 7–17 and parents/guardians of children aged 0–17. This study focused on self-reports from children, including two open-ended questions asking their needs and opinions. The results were analyzed according to the five categories of rights defined by the CRC: education, health, safety, play, and participation.

Journal article

Migrant workers in Malaysia: Covid-19’s impact on the rights of their children and siblings in Pakistan

AUTHOR(S)
Abdullah Khoso; Ahmad Hilmi Mohamad Noor

Published: June 2021 Journal: The International Journal of Children's Rights

With the help of narratives of migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this article seeks to understands the impacts of the covid-19 (known as the 2019 novel coronavirus) pandemic on the rights of their children and children’s siblings in Pakistan. The pandemic impacted the flow of remittances to their families, which further impacted children’s right to education, livelihoods and food. They also revealed that the pandemic had impacted their children’s right to protection, play and development. Children had lost the freedom to play and go outside, socialise and learn. Migrant workers’ children and siblings with limited financial support should have been provided with adequate financial and social security support by Pakistan, but they were not. They also revealed that during the pandemic, children were also regular victims of harsh treatment and physical abuse by adult family members, reflecting the exacerbation of issues of breaches of their fundamental right to protection and emotional integrity.

Cite this research | No. of pages: 21 | Language: English | Topics: Child Protection, Migration, Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: child poverty, children's rights, COVID-19 response, lockdown, migrant workers, parent-child relationship, social distance, social inequality | Countries: Malaysia, Pakistan

Journal article

Symbiotic harms of imprisonment and the effect on children’s right to family life

AUTHOR(S)
Shona Minson; Catherine Flynn

Published: June 2021 Journal: The International Journal of Children's Rights

Measures taken by governments to address covid-19 in prisons, have impacted significantly on the lives and rights of children. There has been consequential interference with children’s rights to family life and to contact with a parent from whom they have been separated. Since the onset of the pandemic, prisoners in many jurisdictions have lived under restricted regimes with almost universal bans on family visits. Children have not had face-to-face contact with their imprisoned parents, and alternate forms of contact have not always been available to them. Using survey and interview data collected during lockdowns in the UK and Australia, we consider the implications of the interference with the rights of children with an imprisoned parent. Focusing on their relationships, health and wellbeing and using the concept of symbiotic harms, we note how children’s experiences of the cessation of contact interacted with parents’ and caregivers’ experiences, amplifying the harms to children.

Cite this research | No. of pages: 21 | Language: English | Topics: Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: children's rights, COVID-19 response, family environment, institutions, lockdown, parent-child relationship, parents, social distance, social inequality

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