Children and COVID-19 Research Library

COVID-19 in Asia-Pacific has added to the multitude of risks that the region faces intersecting with natural hazards, conflicts and fragility. More than any previous disaster, the novel coronavirus has exposed underlying risks and vulnerabilities and challenged the traditional notion of risk. The impact on population groups with pre-existing vulnerabilities has been particularly severe especially where the health crisis has turned into a humanitarian and economic crisis. Moreover, national and local crises are currently exacerbated by the simultaneous sufferings of over 200 countries due to COVID-19. As the waves of the pandemic rise and fall, lessons from past disasters and epidemics can offer valuable insights for COVID-19 socioeconomic recovery. The study highlights learnings from past disasters and features 10 lessons and good practices from Asia-Pacific.

In addition to its immediate adverse impact on women’s and girls’ health and education, the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to further exacerbate existing gender inequalities in economic opportunities across Sub-Saharan Africa. This brief highlight evidence from the Africa Gender Innovation Lab and other promising research on mechanisms that can help protect the lives and livelihoods of women and girls - at the household level, in firms and farms, and during adolescence - in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. While these interventions focus on improving economic and social outcomes for women, many of them also have positive impacts for men. 

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brings new worries about the welfare of children, particularly those of families living in poverty and impacted other risk factors. These children will struggle more during the pandemic because of financial pressures and stress placed on parents, as well as their limited access to services and systems of support. In this commentary, we explain how current circumstances reinforce the need for systemic change within statutory child welfare systems and the benefits that would accrue by implementing a continuum of services that combine universal supports with early intervention strategies. We also focus on promising approaches consistent with goals for public health prevention and draw out ideas related workforce development and cross-sector collaboration.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on human behavior and well-being. Demographic factors and personality traits have been shown to independently influence whether individuals adopt adaptive or maladaptive coping responses. However, to date, researchers have not considered how demographics and personality could interact to influence COVID-19 coping responses. In a sample of 516 North American young adults, this study found direct links from two demographic factors (i.e., income and having children) and from multiple personality traits to adaptive and maladaptive COVID-19 coping responses. It also found that personality indirectly linked a broader range of demographic factors (income, age, gender, having children) with COVID-19 coping responses.

As another wave of COVID-19 outbreak has approached in July 2020, a larger scale COVID-19 pediatric Asian cohort summarizing the clinical observations is warranted. Children confirmed with COVID-19 infection from the Republic of Korea, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Wuhan, China, during their first waves of local outbreaks were included. Their clinical characteristics and the temporal sequences of the first waves of local paediatric outbreaks were compared.

UNFPA estimates that in addition to the 150 million girls at risk of child marriage pre-pandemic, the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 will put an additional 13 million more girls at risk over the next 10 years. Out of that number, up to four million girls may be in danger of child marriage in the next two years alone, with most child marriages taking place in the immediate aftermath of a crisis.

As COVID-19 spread across the globe, gender-based violence experts and women’s rights activists around the world raised the alarm that the pandemic and its ensuing movement restrictions would negatively impact the safety of women and girls. From the first week of March, the media regularly highlighted the increased risk of violence faced by women and girls locked into homes with their abusers and the barriers they experienced in trying to access lifesaving services. This rapid recognition of the link between COVID-related restrictions and violence against women and girls was echoed within the humanitarian sector.

This report drives home where change is most needed. If diversity and identity are inbuilt areas of study in most countries’ curricula, the report shows that not all groups are represented and the challenge of teaching children in their home language has yet to be effectively addressed. Practically all countries in the region collect data on ethnicity to guide policy decisions, but many still do not carry out household surveys to get granular data on disadvantage. The region has the highest share of teachers already trained on inclusion, but many are still trying to address inequality and cope with migratory impact without the pedagogies required. A particular case is made for tackling school segregation based on socio-economic and ethnic divides.

The economic impact of public health measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic is having a devastating effect on communities affected by conflict and displacement. Compounding numerous existing crises and challenges, Covid-19 related travel restrictions, the closure of markets and businesses, and the general economic downturn are causing these communities to lose work and income. This, in turn, makes it even harder for them to feed their families, keep a roof over their heads, and send their children to school. This report is based on a survey of 1,400 people affected by conflict and displacement in eight countries, and more detailed surveys and needs assessment in a total of 14 countries.

This article focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child health in sub-Saharan Africa. It reviews the epidemiology of major pediatric diseases and, referencing modeling projections, discuss the short- and long-term impact of the pandemic on major disease control. It also deliberates on potential complications of SARS-CoV-2 co-infections/co-morbidities and identify critical social and ethical issues. Furthermore, this article aims to highlight the paucity of COVID-19 data and clinical trials in this region and the lack of child participants in ongoing studies. Lastly, approaches and interventions to mitigate the pandemic’s impact on child health outcomes are discussed.

Not only do epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), and the current Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) cause the loss of millions of lives, but they also cost the global economy billions of dollars. Consequently, there is an urgent need to formulate interventions that will help control their spread and impact when they emerge. The education of young girls and women is one such historical approach. They are usually the vulnerable targets of disease outbreaks – they are most likely to be vehicles for the spread of epidemics due to their assigned traditional roles in resource-limited countries. Based on our work and the work of others on educational interventions, this study proposes six critical components of a cost-effective and sustainable response to promote girl-child education in resource-limited settings.

This global research series by Save the Children is the largest and most comprehensive study on the impact of COVID-19 on children. 13.5 thousand children and 31.5 thousand caregivers from 46 countries shared their experiences, fears, hopes and messages for leaders in this study. The extensive study includes the voices of the most marginalised children and general public - with our in-depth analysis focussing on a representative random sample of 25,000 Save the Children program participants across 37 countries globally. The global study reveals the hidden impacts of pandemic response measures which are impacting children’s health, nutrition, education, learning, protection, wellbeing, family finances and poverty. For the most marginalised and deprived children, those impacts have the potential to be life-altering and potentially devastating. The poorest households, households with disabilities, female headed-households and girls, are the hardest hit. The recommendations guided by views & voices of children provide guidance on the next steps needed to build back better for a post COVID-19 future which respects, protects and fulfils the rights of all children, in all contexts.

There have been dramatic reductions in child and youth mortality over the last 29 years. Globally, under-five mortality has dropped by 59% since 1990—from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births then to 38 deaths in 2019. Initial evidence suggests that the impact of COVID-19 on direct mortality for children and youth may be small, but indirect effects can be severe. Many life-saving services have already been disrupted by COVID-19. 

This editorial is about the long lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic  on children's health and well-being.

The incidences of COVID-19 related suicide among adolescents and youths have been reported across the world. This cumulative study focuses on nature, patterns, and causative factors that lead to the present situation.