Children and COVID-19 Research Library

LGBTQ+ youth accessing healthcare settings manage the ‘storms’ of health conditions (e.g. pain, fatigue, social isolation, etc.) while navigating emerging identity exploration and understandings in settings which may have historically overlooked or disaffirmed these identities. The launch of National Health Service Rainbow Badges across the paediatric division of an inner-city hospital provided a context for staff to begin thinking about their practice, development needs and dilemmas in working with LGBTQ+ youth. Through a programme of activity that included staff training, surveys, focus groups and youth engagement, caregivers gained insight into current practice in supporting LGBTQ+ youth and families. This paper presents their findings, ideas for responding to challenges, and areas for future development, including implications in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Widespread fear surrounding COVID-19, coupled with physical and social distancing orders, has caused severe adverse mental health outcomes. Little is known, however, about how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted LGBTQ+ youth, who disproportionately experienced a high rate of adverse mental health outcomes before the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap by harnessing natural language processing methodologies to investigate the evolution of conversation topics in the most popular subreddit for LGBTQ+ youth.

The importance of mainstreaming gender into social protection policies and programmes is increasingly recognized. However, evidence on the extent to which this is actually happening remains limited. This report contributes to filling this evidence gap by drawing on the findings of two complementary research projects undertaken by UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti and UN Women in 2019. Using a specifically developed analytical framework, these two projects reviewed 50 national social protection strategies and 40 social protection programmes across a total of 74 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to assess the extent to which they incorporate gender equality concerns.

This report analyses how girls’ and young women’s capacity and agency for entrepreneurship and leadership are shaped by their household, community, and wider ecosystem as they move from adolescence into adulthood. The research aims to strengthen the evidence-base to support the advancement of gender equality and tackle gender-related barriers that adolescent girls and young women face in Asia-Pacific, focusing on Indonesia, Thailand and Laos. Taking a human-centered approach, the report aims to understand how girls’ and young women’s opportunities, capacity and agency for empowerment through entrepreneurial skill development is shaped as they move from adolescents to adulthood.

This report is the result of a multi-sectoral needs assessment exercise focusing on the rights and needs of adolescents living in the Anglophone territories of North West South West (NWSW) Cameroon. Conducted under extremely challenging circumstances, the assessment used innovative methods pioneered by Plan International to capture the voices of adolescent girls and young women, alongside adolescent boys, young men and their parents and caregivers. It spoke directly to adolescent girls themselves, in particular adolescent girls who are mothers, pregnant, or married, whose ideas, and needs, are often ignored. The NWSW regions of Cameroon have been engulfed in crisis since late 2016, yet this conflict, and its impacts on adolescents, have received limited attention from the international community. This report, which gives adolescents the space to voice their concerns and priorities can be used to engage with states, donors and other humanitarian actors on this neglected crisis and highlight what needs to be done to address adolescents’ needs, rights and aspirations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been stressful for many, increasing levels of anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns worldwide. With the spread of the virus, many youth found themselves physically isolated from their peers and confined to their homes, and medical and mental health services previously provided in person had to adapt by providing virtual sessions. The transition to virtual care created many new challenges for clinicians and patients, including some specific to transgender youth and their families. Pre-pandemic, transgender youth comprised a marginalized and vulnerable population, with elevated risk for adverse mental health outcomes. However, community support, strong group identification and family affirmation can serve as important mitigating factors. In this paper, we will discuss unique challenges encountered in working with the parents and caregivers of transgender youth during virtual visits that have the potential to interfere with development of a therapeutic alliance and the movement toward increased family acceptance. We will provide clinical case examples and propose methods through which to address difficulties and improve care.

This research brief is one of a series exploring the effects of COVID-19 on education. It focuses on how school closures affect children and the resiliency of education systems to respond to such disruptions and mitigate their effect.