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COVID-19 & Child Health

What the Experts Say: Coronavirus & Children
(Past event)

Event type: Webinar

events1 October 2020time15:00 - 16:00 CET

 

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

As COVID-19 has been kinder to children, it’s also pushed children into the shadows – they’re barred from play, barred from school and more critically barred from health clinics with routine health services grinding to a halt. Adolescents too have seemed invisible even invincible.

What do we know about the virology of children and young people – why do children seem to have special immunity? Usually, children are the first to get any vaccine. Will that happen with a COVID vaccine? What about those who will refuse to vaccinate their children? And what’s been happening to children’s health and immunization in general while the pandemic rages? Because every child deserves answers, we ask the experts the big, burning questions about child health.

WHEN: Thursday 1 OCTOBER 15:00 CEST | 9:00 EST



Confirmed panelists:

 

  

Experts

Heidi Larson
Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science, LSHTM
Luwei Pearson
Associate Director and Chief of Health Programme, UNICEF NYHQ
Dr. David Nabarro
Special Envoy of WHO Director General on COVID19
Dr. Raji Tajudeen
Head, Division of Public Health Institutes and Research, Africa CDC
David Anthony
Moderator
Sarah Crowe
Moderator

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This blog explores how Sport for Development (S4D) organisations have responded and adapted their programming to support children during the COVID-19 crisis. S4D organisations use sport as a tool to catalyse positive change in the lives of children, youth and the communities they live in. 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These activities take place in schools, community centres, and outdoor spaces. Social distancing measures have meant that organizations have had to stop their regular programming taking away these safe physical spaces and adapt both delivery modalities and content to respond to the crisis. Continuing to support children through remote sessionsMany S4D organizations are going remote through online, but also through broadcast media. The Barça Foundation, in Spain, has adapted its sessions for marginalised youth to take place online: coaches lead children through physical exercises remotely replacing their usual football match (See Figure 2), and moderate group discussions, before and after the exercise on life skills and values. This provides socio-emotional support through play and continues healthy routines which can be critical for mental health during uncertain times. The Barça Foundation is working on alternative ways to deliver these sessions so they are available to participants without access to internet, acknowledging that access to technology is not a given for many children around the world as explored in a recent research brief on remote learning. [caption id="attachment_2569" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Figure 2[/caption] COVID Focus: Providing critical and accurate health and COVID-19 informationAs part of their response, many S4D organisations, are adapting their content and developing innovative ways to help spread the word about good practices during COVID-19. Grassroot Soccer (GRS), who uses football as part of a curriculum on sexual and reproductive health, has developed an open-source COVID-19 curriculum that debunks myths around COVID-19 and promotes healthy behaviors. 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