#COVID19

COVID-19 & Children

Rapid Research Response

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Introduction

Children, despite being less affected by the virus itself, are bearing a disproportionate burden of the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools have been closed for months, impacting not just children’s education, but also their nutrition, growth, social development, and protection. Containment measures have increased levels of violence in the home. Social protection responses often fail to cater for the needs of children and their families. Compounding this is the regression of developments made in recent decades and the halting of progress towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

In response to this unprecedented crisis for children, UNICEF Innocenti is mobilizing a rapid research response to provide the evidence needed to scale up rapid assessment, develop urgent mitigating strategies, and prepare interventions to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

Research publications

Research publications

Mind Matters
Report

Mind Matters

While the evidence base is still nascent, this report looks at the impacts of disasters and past epidemics – such as Ebola, HIV, SARS/MERS and Zika – on child and adolescent mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, and examines how these insights can guide policies and progammes to support children, their families and communities during the current pandemic.
Mind Matters
Report

Mind Matters

While the evidence base is still nascent, this report looks at the impacts of disasters and past epidemics – such as Ebola, HIV, SARS/MERS and Zika – on child and adolescent mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, and examines how these insights can guide policies and progammes to support children, their families and communities during the current pandemic.
It’s Not Too Late to Act on Early Learning
Research Brief

It’s Not Too Late to Act on Early Learning

This paper presents a new estimate that pre-primary school closures in 2020 may cost today’s young children US$1.6 trillion in lost earnings over their lifetimes. Children in middle-income countries will be most greatly affected. However, most low- and middle- income countries are leaving pre-primary education out of their responses to COVID-19. This paper also draws lessons from evaluations of accelerated, bridging and remedial programmes on how introducing or expanding these transition programmes in the early years can mitigate the long-term impact on learning from pre-primary school closures.
Continuing learning for the most vulnerable during COVID-19
Research Brief

Continuing learning for the most vulnerable during COVID-19

This brief draws on the experience of five UNICEF education country programmes supported by the Let Us Learn (LUL) initiative, to document tangible lessons in adapting education programmes to support the most marginalized children during school and learning centre closures.
COVID-19 and the Looming Debt Crisis
Report

COVID-19 and the Looming Debt Crisis

Compounding the COVID-19 pandemic is a looming debt crisis for low- and middle-income countries where a growing debt burden threatens to crowd out social spending for children. This policy brief explores whether the current support from the international community is enough to maintain spending on basic services during COVID-19.
Lifting Barriers to Education During and After COVID-19
Report

Lifting Barriers to Education During and After COVID-19

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, since November 2020, 137 million girls and boys are missing out on their education due to the prolonged closure of schools during COVID-19. The implications are troubling, especially for migrant and refugee children, for whom access to inclusive and equitable education remains a major challenge.
COVID-19 Missing More Than a Classroom. The impact of school closures on children’s nutrition
Working Paper

COVID-19 Missing More Than a Classroom. The impact of school closures on children’s nutrition

Since the beginning of the pandemic, an estimated 1.6 billion learners in 199 countries worldwide were affected by school closures, with nearly 370 million children not receiving a school meal in 150 countries. The paper presents the evidence on the potential negative short-term and long-term effects of school meal scheme disruption during Covid-19 globally.
Learning at a Distance: Children’s remote learning experiences in Italy during COVID
Report

Learning at a Distance: Children’s remote learning experiences in Italy during COVID

(10 February 2021) This report explores children’s and parents’ experiences of remote learning during the lockdown in Italy. It explores how children's access and use of digital technologies changed during the pandemic; highlights how existing inequalities might undermine remote learning opportunities, even among those with internet access; and provides insights on how to support children’s remote learning in the future.
COVID-19: Trends, Promising Practices and Gaps in Remote Learning for Pre-Primary Education
Working Paper

COVID-19: Trends, Promising Practices and Gaps in Remote Learning for Pre-Primary Education

This paper examines the remote learning options that countries around the world have made available for pre-primary students and their families while schools are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights trends, gaps and emerging good practices that are supported by existing evidence.
Supporting Families and Children Beyond COVID-19. Social protection in high-income countries
Report

Supporting Families and Children Beyond COVID-19. Social protection in high-income countries

(9 December 2020) COVID-19 constitutes the greatest crisis that high-income countries have seen in many generations. While many high-income countries experienced the global financial crisis of 2007–2008, or have had national recessions, the COVID-19 pandemic is much more than that. COVID-19 is a social and economic crisis, sparked by a protracted health crisis.
A Lifeline at Risk COVID-19, Remittances and Children
Report

A Lifeline at Risk COVID-19, Remittances and Children

Millions of children around the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, live in households that receive money and other forms of support from a family member who has moved abroad, or to another part of the same country, to work. This form of assistance, or ‘remittances’, can alleviate household poverty and is often a key support for children’s development. In times of global economic uncertainty, however, remittances can be an unstable source of income for families.
Beyond Masks: Impacts of COVID-19 and solutions for children and adolescents
Article

Beyond Masks: Impacts of COVID-19 and solutions for children and adolescents

(17 December 2020) All children are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, often in multiple ways. The COVID-19 pandemic is a universal crisis that has been devastating for children, families and communities, and shows no signs of abating as 2021 approaches. Ex­amining the available evidence to understand the poten­tial and actual societal effects on children and identifying viable evidence-based solutions are critical pathways to inform timely policy and programmatic responses.
The Evolving Epidemiologic and Clinical Picture of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Disease in Children and Young People
Working Paper

The Evolving Epidemiologic and Clinical Picture of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Disease in Children and Young People

The initial impression that paediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection is uncommon and generally mild has been replaced by a more nuanced understanding of infectious manifestations in children and adolescents across low-, middle-, and high-income countries and by demographic structure, with recognition of a widening disease spectrum. Critical knowledge gaps, especially in low- and middle-income countries remain, that have significant public policy and programme implications. Insufficient data disaggregated by age, geography and race/ethnicity are hindering efforts to fully assess prevalence of infection and disease in children and adolescents and their role in transmission.
What Have We Learnt? Findings from a survey of ministries of education on national responses to COVID-19
Report

What Have We Learnt? Findings from a survey of ministries of education on national responses to COVID-19

(4 November 2020) At the height of nationwide lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures, causing an unprecedented global learning crisis. Even prior to the pandemic, however, children’s learning was in crisis with half of 10-year-olds in middle- and low-income countries unable to understand a simple written sentence and more than a quarter billion children out of school. The pandemic has only sharpened these inequities, hitting schoolchildren in poorer countries particularly hard. National governments around the world have been quick to implement remote learning, new health protocols and reopening plans, but again these policies have varied widely based on each country’s wealth.
COVID-19: Effects of school closures on foundational skills and promising practices for monitoring and mitigating learning loss
Article

COVID-19: Effects of school closures on foundational skills and promising practices for monitoring and mitigating learning loss

While remote learning measures are essential for mitigating the short-term and long-term consequences of COVID-19 school closures, little is known about their impact on and effectiveness for learning. This working paper contributes to filling this gap by exploring how disrupted schooling may affect foundational learning skills, examining how countries are delivering and monitoring remote learning, and presenting promising key practices for the effective delivery and monitoring of remote learning.
Social protection after COVID-19 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Article

Social protection after COVID-19 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Discussions around the effects of the COVID-19 crisis and its impacts and costs are moving swiftly from health concerns to economic and social concerns. The ways in which countries are dealing with COVID-19 itself, through social lockdowns and school closures, are expected to have wide-ranging social and economic costs and governments have responded with rapid implementation of fiscal stimulus and social protection reforms. COVID-19 is a global health crisis, with severe economic consequences, impacting countries and continents in waves, and therefore is – with the exception of the Spanish Flu in 1918 – without a recent comparator. Necessarily this means that experience with, and evidence for, dealing with such a crisis is limited.
COVID-19: How prepared are global education systems for future crises?
Research Brief

COVID-19: How prepared are global education systems for future crises?

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.
COVID-19: A reason to double down on investments in pre-primary education
Working Paper

COVID-19: A reason to double down on investments in pre-primary education

This paper summarizes the recent UNICEF analysis on investing in early childhood education in developing countries. It provides a benefit-cost analysis of investments in pre-primary education in 109 developing low- and middle-income countries and territories, using data from 2008 to 2019.
COVID-19: How are Countries Preparing to Mitigate the Learning Loss as Schools Reopen? Trends and emerging good practices to support the most vulnerable children
Research Brief

COVID-19: How are Countries Preparing to Mitigate the Learning Loss as Schools Reopen? Trends and emerging good practices to support the most vulnerable children

Some countries are starting to reopen schools as others develop plans to do so following widespread and extended closures due to COVID-19. Using data from two surveys and 164 countries, this research brief describes the educational strategies countries are putting into place, or plan to, in order to mitigate learning impacts of extended school closures, particularly for the most vulnerable children. In addition, it highlights emerging good practices.
Childcare in a Global Crisis: The Impact of COVID-19 on work and family life
Research Brief

Childcare in a Global Crisis: The Impact of COVID-19 on work and family life

This brief takes a global perspective on one of these four aspects – childcare in the early years. In the current context of lockdown and school closures, lack of childcare is likely to be one of the worst affected services available to families. This paper paints a picture of current progress towards ensuring that all families have access to affordable and high-quality childcare, and considers the implications of the current COVID-19 crisis for childcare globally. We show how governments and employers can help parents to address the global childcare crisis through paid parental leave, followed by accessible, affordable and high-quality childcare.
Impacts of Pandemics and Epidemics on Child Protection: Lessons learned from a rapid review in the context of COVID-19
Working Paper

Impacts of Pandemics and Epidemics on Child Protection: Lessons learned from a rapid review in the context of COVID-19

This rapid review collates and synthesizes evidence on the child protection impacts of COVID-19 and previous pandemics, epidemics and infectious disease outbreaks. It provides lessons for global and national responses to COVID19 and recommendations for future research priorities.
COVID-19 may pose greater risk to children than originally thought
Research Brief

COVID-19 may pose greater risk to children than originally thought

(21 July 2020) It is commonly accepted, at least for now, that children and young people under 20 years of age have largely been spared the direct epidemiological effects on their own health and survival of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for COVID-19 disease. This narrative is based predominantly on early data from the countries first affected by the virus, notably China (Wuhan province) and Italy in early 2020, and also from other high-income countries (HICs) including the United States and some European nations. This narrative has conditioned the subsequent screening and testing for SARS-CoV-2 virus in children and young people under 20, which have been notably lower than for other age cohorts in many, but not all, countries.
Digital Connectivity During COVID-19: Access to vital information for every child
Publication

Digital Connectivity During COVID-19: Access to vital information for every child

(10 June 2020) This research brief explores data from 22,000 12-15 year old's to answer three research questions. 1) How much do we know about children’s basic access to the internet across the globe? 2) Do children regularly use the internet to access health information? 3) Are children able to verify the truth of online information?
A Rapid Review of Economic Policy and Social Protection Responses to Health and Economic Crises and Their Effects on Children
Article

A Rapid Review of Economic Policy and Social Protection Responses to Health and Economic Crises and Their Effects on Children

This rapid review seeks to inform the initial and long-term public policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, by assessing evidence on past economic policy and social protection responses to health and economic crises and their effects on children and families.
COVID-19 and children, in the North and in the South
Discussion Paper

COVID-19 and children, in the North and in the South

This paper aims to document the likely direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in developed and developing countries. It also aims to identify potential urgent measures to alleviate such impacts on children.
Promising practices for equitable remote learning
Research Brief

Promising practices for equitable remote learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on societies, globally. To help contain the spread of the disease, schools around the world have closed, affecting 1.6 billion learners – approximately 91 per cent of the world’s enrolled students.
Parental Engagement in Children’s Learning during COVID-19
Research Brief

Parental Engagement in Children’s Learning during COVID-19

This research brief focuses on the potential parental role in learning and its association with foundational reading and numeracy skills. Fifty-three per cent of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple text by the end of primary school age. In low-income countries, the learning crisis is even more acute, with the ‘learning poverty’ rate reaching 90 per cent. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, 191 countries have implemented countrywide school closures, affecting 1.6 billion learners worldwide.

Research Library

UNICEF Innocenti has produced the Children and COVID-19 Research Library to highlight the available global scientific research and evidence on children and the coronavirus pandemic.

The library is a searchable database of research from the most reputable sources around the world on the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on children and adolescents. It is one of the most advanced publicly accessible databases of research on COVID-19 and children available.

 

Explore the library

 

 

Ethics and Evidence Synthesis

Evidence and Gap Map Research Brief UNICEF Strategic Plan 2018–2021: Covid-19 Special Evidence Brief
Article

Evidence and Gap Map Research Brief UNICEF Strategic Plan 2018–2021: Covid-19 Special Evidence Brief

This research brief is an addition to a series of five briefs, which provide an overview of available evidence shown in the Campbell-UNICEF Mega-Map of the effectiveness of interventions to improve child well-being in low- and middle-income countries.
Ethical Issues: Digital contact tracing and surveillance during COVID-19
Working Paper

Ethical Issues: Digital contact tracing and surveillance during COVID-19

Balancing the need to collect data to support good decision-making versus the need to protect children from harm created through the collection of the data has never been more challenging than in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The response to the pandemic has seen an unprecedented rapid scaling up of technologies to support digital contact tracing and surveillance. As the pandemic progresses, we are also likely to see the emergence of more applications that link datasets as we seek to better understand the secondary impacts of the pandemic on children and their families.
Ethical Considerations for Evidence Generation Involving Children on the COVID-19 Pandemic
Discussion Paper

Ethical Considerations for Evidence Generation Involving Children on the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper identifies key ethical considerations when undertaking evidence generation involving children during the mitigation stage of the pandemic (emergency phase), on subject matter relating to COVID-19 once the pandemic has been contained, and once containment policy measures, including lockdowns, have been lifted (post-emergency phase). While the COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly a global crisis, with evidence generation activities raising critical ethical issues that have been captured in the literature and relevant guidelines, there are specificities relating to this emergency that must be considered when unpacking potential ethical issues.
The Evolving Epidemiologic and Clinical Picture of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Disease in Children and Young People
Working Paper

The Evolving Epidemiologic and Clinical Picture of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Disease in Children and Young People

The initial impression that paediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection is uncommon and generally mild has been replaced by a more nuanced understanding of infectious manifestations in children and adolescents across low-, middle-, and high-income countries and by demographic structure, with recognition of a widening disease spectrum. Critical knowledge gaps, especially in low- and middle-income countries remain, that have significant public policy and programme implications. Insufficient data disaggregated by age, geography and race/ethnicity are hindering efforts to fully assess prevalence of infection and disease in children and adolescents and their role in transmission.
Does COVID-19 Affect the Health of Children and Young People More Than We Thought?
Research Brief

Does COVID-19 Affect the Health of Children and Young People More Than We Thought?

Contrary to the current narrative, the risks of COVID-19 disease in children and young people depend largely on where individuals live and how vulnerable they are to disease and ill health.
Impacts of Pandemics and Epidemics on Child Protection
Working Paper

Impacts of Pandemics and Epidemics on Child Protection

(21 July 2020) There are various pathways through which infectious disease outbreaks can exacerbate vulnerabilities, generate new risks and result in negative outcomes for children. This rapid review collates and synthesizes evidence on the child protection impacts of COVID-19 and previous pandemics, epidemics and infectious disease outbreaks. It provides lessons for global and national responses to COVID19 and recommendations for future research priorities.

Blogs & Think Pieces

Why we can’t afford to let early childhood education fall through the COVID-19 cracks
Blog

Why we can’t afford to let early childhood education fall through the COVID-19 cracks

A few weeks ago, after his last day at kindergarten, my son wanted to show me his portfolio. Marveling at the delightful collection of drawings, crafts, photos and teacher notes, I couldn’t believe how lucky we are that he got to experience a full year of kindergarten, in spite of COVID-19.
How to co-create research during a global pandemic
Blog

How to co-create research during a global pandemic

Even in the most difficult settings, some schools excel in learning, champion gender equality, and have low drop-out rates. These “positive deviant” schools provide valuable lessons on how to improve similar but less performing schools. Through the Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance research, UNICEF and partners identify effective behaviours and practices in positive deviant schools and investigate how these can be rolled out to other schools. The research is one of three components of the global DMS initiative, which aims to improve learning through better data access, analysis, and use. In this way, education systems are optimised using data and evidence, no matter the context. But to do so requires the involvement of all stakeholders—from the Education Minister through to school teachers and students.
Safeguarding and sport for development during and after the pandemic
Blog

Safeguarding and sport for development during and after the pandemic

Sport for Development (S4D) organisations have adapted their programming to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis through continued support including remote learning, providing health information, and supporting their staff to support other programs. In this blog we explore the new risks and challenges raised by the crisis and how organisations can use this time to make sure the return to play is safer than ever.
How will COVID-19 disrupt child well-being in Southern and Eastern Europe and Central Asia?
Blog

How will COVID-19 disrupt child well-being in Southern and Eastern Europe and Central Asia?

The story of the COVID-19 pandemic is one of vulnerability, in which those with pre-existing deprivations are likely to suffer most. While the full range of economic and social consequences of the crisis are yet to emerge, it will undoubtedly affect many children, by exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and their underling conditions
Making sure the most vulnerable children are heard during COVID-19: 5 lessons on data collection from Somalia
Blog

Making sure the most vulnerable children are heard during COVID-19: 5 lessons on data collection from Somalia

While COVID-19 has presented new risks and challenges for collecting information, children’s voices must continue to be heard when developing policies and programmes that impact their lives. In recognition of this, UNICEF Somalia designed and conducted a study, with technical support from the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti and funding from the UK government, to capture the experiences of some of the most vulnerable children living in Puntland and Somaliland during the current pandemic. 1,090 children (aged 10-18 years) were interviewed between 5th and 21st July 2020. This included children living on the streets, those affected by migration, and those living alone with no family. All the data collected was disaggregated by key factors such as gender and age group to provide additional insights.
Protecting children from harm during COVID-19 needs evidence
Blog

Protecting children from harm during COVID-19 needs evidence

Although much of the world is focused on the “silver lining” that COVID-19 does not appear to severely impact children’s health, UNICEF is raising the alarm about the potential damage of the hidden impacts on children’s health as well as the indirect socio-economic effects of the fallout from the pandemic. In response, UNICEF Innocenti is generating evidence to assist and inform UNICEF’s COVID-19 work. This blog is about a research conducted by UNICEF on the impacts of pandemics and epidemics on child protection, including topics such as violence against children, child labour and child marriage.
COVID-19 may pose greater risk to children than originally thought
Blog

COVID-19 may pose greater risk to children than originally thought

It is commonly accepted, at least for now, that children and adolescents (0-19 years) have been largely spared the direct epidemiological effects of the COVID-19 crisis on their own health and survival. This narrative is based predominantly on early data from the first affected countries of the virus, notably from China (Wuhan Province) and Italy in early 2020, and also other high-income countries including the United States and some European nations.
How sport can help keep children engaged during COVID-19: Innovations by South African S4D organizations
Blog

How sport can help keep children engaged during COVID-19: Innovations by South African S4D organizations

This blog is part two of a series highlighting innovative responses to COVID-19 from S4D organizations. UNICEF Innocenti is conducting research on S4D in collaboration with the UNICEF- FCB and Barça Foundation partnership. The first blog in the series discussed innovative responses S4D organizations have taken globally to adapt to the crisis. In this blog, we focus on one country, South Africa – which sets itself apart as a lower-middle income country with the highest number of S4D organizations. This blog explores the challenges faced in South Africa’s unique contexts and different responses to them.
5 Questions on Research on Violence against Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Article

5 Questions on Research on Violence against Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

A new publication produced jointly by UNICEF Innocenti and UNICEF Data and Analytics provides guidance on ethical data collection and research on violence against children in the context of COVID-19 and beyond. We sat down (virtually) with one of UNICEF Innocenti’s researchers involved in producing this research guidance, Alessandra Guedes, Gender and Development Research Manager, to discuss what this publication is about, why it has been produced and what the key messages from the publication are.
Are we at risk of making the same errors we made at the beginning of the HIV and AIDS pandemic?
Blog

Are we at risk of making the same errors we made at the beginning of the HIV and AIDS pandemic?

(21 July 2020) Like polio before it, unless we continue to monitor its socio-demographic spread, COVID-19 may start out being a disease that first affects more affluent communities and countries but could end up lasting longest and deepest among the world’s poorest countries and communities. In the HIV crisis, age-disaggregated data appeared long after the aggregate numbers or even the sex-disaggregated, leaving child prevention, detection and treatment lagging well behind that of adults.
Spain’s Basic Income Response to COVID-19
Blog

Spain’s Basic Income Response to COVID-19

(1 July 2020) Spain has been hard hit by Covid-19, both in terms of high death toll and worsening economic conditions. Government lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus left millions of households without earnings or temporary unemployed. A recent report anticipates a 13% decline in GDP in the worst-case scenario. This is a worrying prediction for a country characterised by high unemployment and high levels of extreme poverty, even before the crisis. But from this adversity comes an opportunity.
Remote data collection on VAW: A conversation with experts (Part 1)
Think Piece

Remote data collection on VAW: A conversation with experts (Part 1)

Violence against women (VAW) is a priority global concern especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supporting survivors during this time requires understanding the characteristics and magnitude of violence and effectiveness of responses – for which we need rigorous research. Researchers are well positioned to contribute to policy dialogue, drawing both on past evidence to inform critical pandemic responses, as well as studying dynamics as they unfold to inform real-time decisions and future pandemics.
Remote data collection on VAC: A conversation with experts (Part 2)
Think Piece

Remote data collection on VAC: A conversation with experts (Part 2)

Global stakeholders have raised concerns about the implications of COVID-19 for violence against children (VAC). An increased risk of violence could result from a variety of compounding structural, interpersonal and individual-level risk factors, including the increased economic strain placed on families, stay-at-home orders, school closures and other COVID-19 response measures. Over 165 governments have urged the UN to “Protect our Children” and the leaders of 22 organizations have called for the need to integrate measures to protect children from violence in COVID-19 response plans. To guide action on preventing and responding to violence, eight UN agencies outlined a child rights and multi-sectoral framework agenda for action. Initial and preliminary evidence on COVID-19 and VAC suggests that the pandemic could affect not only the risks of violence, but also help-seeking behavior and access to violence-related services.
Why Child Labour Cannot be Forgotten During COVID-19
Blog

Why Child Labour Cannot be Forgotten During COVID-19

In just a matter of weeks, the COVID-19 outbreak has already had drastic consequences for children. Their access to education, food, and health services has been dramatically affected across the globe. The impact has been so marked, that the UN Secretary General has urged governments and donors to offset the immediate effects of the COVID-19 crisis on children.
Remote learning amid a global pandemic: Insights from MICS6
Blog

Remote learning amid a global pandemic: Insights from MICS6

While some countries are now moving to reopen schools, nearly 1.3 billion children are still out of school and dependent on remote learning, due to nationwide shutdowns. As national educational systems strive to meet this challenge, Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) data offer some important insights into how we can ensure every child has an equal opportunity to learn remotely.
Can broadcast media foster equitable learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic?
Blog

Can broadcast media foster equitable learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic?

School closures around the globe mean that remote learning is now the only option for more than 1.3 billion children across 177 countries. MICS6 data reveal that many of the world’s children do not have internet access at home, particularly among poorer households. In response, UNICEF, governments and partners are actively considering an array of solutions to support the continuity of learning for children and adolescents, and the data indicate that television and radio broadcasts offer an effective way for education systems to reach children with the greatest needs.
Can we count on parents to help their children learn at home?
Blog

Can we count on parents to help their children learn at home?

53 per cent of children in low- and middle- income countries cannot read and understand a simple text by the end of primary school-age. In low-income countries, the learning crisis is even more acute, with the learning poverty rate reaching 90 per cent. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 191 countries have implemented country-wide school closures, affecting 1.6 billion learners worldwide.
How prepared are global education systems for future crises?
Blog

How prepared are global education systems for future crises?

In this blog, we explore lessons from current and past school closures and call for investment to improve the resiliency of national education systems to respond to future disruptions and crises.
Caring in the time of COVID-19
Blog

Caring in the time of COVID-19

Care work, which is predominantly provided by women and girls, is a central yet typically undervalued contributor to economies. It includes supporting daily activities of individuals (such as cooking, cleaning, and providing daily essentials), as well as the health and well-being of others, including children and the elderly.
Lessons from COVID-19: Getting remote learning right 
Blog

Lessons from COVID-19: Getting remote learning right 

To help contain the spread COVID-19, schools have closed around the world, at its peak putting approximately 1.6 billion or 91% of the world’s enrolled students out of school. Governments and education stakeholders have responded swiftly implementing remote learning, using various delivery channels, including digital tools, TV/radio-based teaching, and take-home packages.
From the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, insights on helping families and children cope
Blog

From the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, insights on helping families and children cope

Just as the coronavirus outbreak reached its peak in the Italian province of Lombardy a group of health care professionals, many with Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital in Bergamo, published a short commentary which caught the attention of staff at the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti in Florence. Their simple message: COVID-19 was decimating their whole town and therefore required a completely new way of fighting the disease and its multiple side-effects ripping through their community.
Ethical collection of data from children during the COVID-19 pandemic
Blog

Ethical collection of data from children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Our need to understand, quantify, forecast, track and unpack the COVID-19 pandemic fuels an insatiable need for data. While children are not the primary victims, they are significantly impacted in most areas of their lives, and will continue to be well after the pandemic is contained.
Children on the move in East Africa: Research insights to mitigate COVID-19
Blog

Children on the move in East Africa: Research insights to mitigate COVID-19

Migration is a core coping strategy for many children and young people across the globe, whether on their own or with their families. But it can also make children and young people vulnerable to further harm and deprivation in the absence of adequate and reliable services and social and economic support. While levels of vulnerability are dependent on multiple factors, COVID-19 is likely to pose an additional threat for those who are in transit, and those who have moved away from their homes and are living in uncertain circumstances. The protection of migrant children needs to be a central component of the COVID-19 response.
Five ways governments are responding to violence against women and children during COVID-19
Blog

Five ways governments are responding to violence against women and children during COVID-19

While the world may have been caught off guard by the size and ramifications of the COVID-19 crisis, it should be prepared to respond to the increased risks to the wellbeing and safety of children and women. Violence against children and violence against women are widespread globally and intrinsically linked, sharing common risk factors and similar adverse and severe consequences. The literature within pandemics may be limited, but we have enough evidence to say unequivocally that related factors can increase or intensify levels of violence.
Fast access to cash provides urgent relief to those hardest hit by COVID—19
Blog

Fast access to cash provides urgent relief to those hardest hit by COVID—19

COVID—19 is wreaking health and economic turmoil worldwide. These impacts are all the more pronounced in low-income or crisis-affected countries, where the economic crisis caused by the pandemic may hit harder than the virus itself. This is the case for Jordan which, in addition to 15.7% of its population living below the poverty line, hosts 650,000 registered refugees who fled the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

Online events

Webinar: COVID-19 and Child Labour
Event

Webinar: COVID-19 and Child Labour

(24 June 2021) Until recently, the outlook for finally ending child labour was promising, owing in part to progress in expanding education, targeted social protection and robust global growth. But in the last four years, global progress has stalled. In fact, the absolute number of children engaged in child labour has increased for the first time in two decades—an estimated and staggering 160 million children in 2020 according to new global estimates released by ILO and UNICEF.
Webinar: Vaccines: Doses, Distribution and Bridging the Great Divide
Event

Webinar: Vaccines: Doses, Distribution and Bridging the Great Divide

(28 April 2021) The COVID-19 vaccine has been a scientific triumph. But how can we achieve vaccine equity? Leading Minds asks the experts.
Webinar: COVID and the Looming Debt Crisis
Event

Webinar: COVID and the Looming Debt Crisis

(1 April 2021) Even before the pandemic 1 in 8 countries spent more on debt than on education, health and social spending combined. Leading Minds asks how we stop mortgaging children’s futures?
Webinar: Special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa
Event

Webinar: Special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa

(3 December 2020) It was expected to be the worst hit, but instead Africa is gaining praise for being amongst the best and waging an effective campaign against the COVID pandemic. The youngest continent on earth, with the average age just 18 years old, sub-Saharan Africa has experienced only a fraction of the death toll elsewhere in the world.
Webinar: COVID-19, the Infodemic and Fake News
Event

Webinar: COVID-19, the Infodemic and Fake News

(12 November 2020) The infodemic that has spread at the same rate as the COVID pandemic has brought this into sharp relief. Why now, why has this exploded in 2020 with data being exploited at an unprecedented level? How can children and young people develop the ability to decipher disinformation and misinformation?
Webinar: COVID-19 and the Climate Crisis
Event

Webinar: COVID-19 and the Climate Crisis

Has COVID changed Climate Change? Can children who’ve left the least damage on the planet now make the biggest difference? Join us on Leading Minds Online as we ask the experts. On Thursday 22 October at 15:00 CET | 09:00 EST, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presents its eighth Leading Minds Online webinar ‘What the Experts Say - Coronavirus and Children' on COVID-19 and the Climate Crisis.
Webinar: COVID-19 and Child Health
Event

Webinar: COVID-19 and Child Health

On Thursday 1 October at 15:00 CET | 09:00 EST, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presented its seventh Leading Minds Online webcast ‘What the Experts Say - Coronavirus and Children' on Child Health.
Webinar: COVID-19 and economic impact on children
Event

Webinar: COVID-19 and economic impact on children

On Thursday 17 September at 15:00 CET | 09:00 EST, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presented its sixth Leading Minds Online webcast ‘What the Experts Say - Coronavirus and Children' on Economic Impact.
Webinar: Hand Hygiene for every child during and after COVID-19
Event

Webinar: Hand Hygiene for every child during and after COVID-19

On Thursday 2 July at 15:00 CET | 09:00 EST, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presents its fifth Leading Minds Online webcast ‘What the Experts Say - Coronavirus and Children' on Hand Hygiene.
Webinar: Remote Learning & Beyond #COVID19
Event

Webinar: Remote Learning & Beyond #COVID19

On Thursday 18 June at 15:00 CET | 09:00 EST, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presented its fourth Leading Minds Online webcast series ‘What the Experts Say - Coronavirus and Children: Remote Learning and Beyond’. A panel of high-level experts looked at how the global pandemic and resulting school closures are worsening learning gaps, and deepening the learning crisis.
Webinar: Support for Families during COVID-19
Event

Webinar: Support for Families during COVID-19

On Thursday 4 June at 15:00 CET | 09:00 EST UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti launches the third installment of the Leading Minds Online webinar series ‘What the Experts Say - Coronavirus and Children: Support for Families.
Webinar: Violence in the home before, during and after COVID-19
Event

Webinar: Violence in the home before, during and after COVID-19

On Thursday 21 May at 15:00 CET | 09:00 EST UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti hosted the second Leading Minds Online webinar series: "What the Experts Say - Coronavirus and Children: Violence in the Home”. The ewebinar looks at why some of the measures taken to contain the Coronavirus could be magnifying the risk factors for violence against children and women - What can be done to prevent violence against children and women and support survivors now and post-COVID 19?
Webinar: Children Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Event

Webinar: Children Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic

On 6 May 2020 UNICEF Innocenti hosted the first Leading Minds Online event introducing a new series on Coronavirus and Children: What the Experts Say. Our first event featured Harvard University's professor of global health, Dr Vikram Patel; UNICEF Innocenti lead researcher on child internet use, Daniel Kardefelt-Winther, and other Leading Minds from the US, Pakistan and South Africa.

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CONTACT
UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti
research[at]unicef.org
via degli Alfani, 58 - 50121 Florence, Italy
T : (39055) 20330 F : (39055) 2033220