Events & Convening
Convening thought leadership in issues affecting children.
UPCOMING
Strengthening Data Systems and Utilization in the Education Sector
27 July 2021 - How can research play a vital role in ensuring strengthening of Education data systems and utilization for more data-informed decision-making?
Last Days at Sea Screening at Apriti Cinema Estate 2021
As part of the program of the summer arena Apriti Cinema and the Unicef Innocenti Film Festival, the documentary "Last Days at Sea" by Venice Altienza will be presented on Saturday 10 July. Tickets are FREE with reservations required.
UPCOMING
Reopening the Future: Prioritizing Pre-primary Education
27 July 2021 - Join UNICEF, UNESCO and World Bank for a webinar event on prioritizing pre-primary education.
Participants will learn through the sharing of good practices and implementer experiences, how partners are working to address learning gaps, and the role and potential of ECE bridge/catch-up programs in stemming ECE learning loss. The webinar will consist of opening remarks by senior education representatives from UNICEF, UNESCO, and The World Bank Group, followed by a moderated panel discussion by education researchers, practitioners, and experts from Malawi, Mongolia, Senegal, and Uganda.
Gender dimensions of violence against children and adolescents
The Child Protection and Gender sections at NYHQ and the Office of Research – Innocenti organized an internal webinar on UNICEF’s Strategy Paper on the Gender Dimensions of Violence against Children and Adolescents in which over 200 UNICEF colleagues from regional and country levels participated. The webinar aimed to help participants learn more about the strategy paper and provided an opportunity to share ideas and recommendations for the implementation of priority actions in this area.
Latest events
COVID-19 and Child Labour
As progress on child labour has stalled and absolute numbers of children engaged in child labour increase, Leading Minds Online asks the experts: How can we get progress back on track and prevent this worst-case scenario?
Pathways toward an education that leaves no one behind
16 June 2021 - Ahead of the G20 Education Ministers meeting and informed by ODI’s upcoming publication, ‘Pathways towards quality primary education: improving completion and learning outcomes’, we bring together a group of experts to examine successful reforms that have brought vulnerable children to the forefront of policy implementation and consider what is needed to push the agenda forward.
Speakers:
Susan Nicolai
Chair – Senior Research Fellow, Equity and Social Policy, ODI and Director of Research, EdTech Hub
Rukmini Banerji
Panellist – CEO, Pratham Education Foundation
Matt Brossard
Panellist – Chief, READ (Research on Education And Development) Unit, UNICEF Innocenti
Shem Bodo
Panellist – Senior Programs Officer, Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)
José Manuel Roche
Panellist – Policy Advisor, Senior Analyst and Evaluator in International Development, Consultant
Moizza Binat Sarwar
Panellist – Research Fellow, Equity and Social Policy, ODI
Vaccines: Doses, Distribution and Bridging the Great Divide
The COVID Vaccine Race has been nothing short of a scientific triumph. In just under a year the unimaginable has happened, with not just one but several different vaccines tested, transported and delivered to millions around the world to protect them against a virus that has brought the world to a standstill.
But the global rollout has not been without its travails and has highlighted long-standing inequities between wealthy and less affluent countries. With demand for COVID vaccines outstripping supply, concerns over possible side effects, and new variants of the virus emerging, the vaccine rollout has hit a massive speedbump. Equitable and sustainable solutions to the COVID pandemic have never been more pressing.
To mark World Immunization Week and address the global COVID vaccine challenge, UNICEF Innocenti’s Leading Minds will ask the high level panel how we keep up the momentum of the vaccine race while leaving no one behind; solutions to simplify complex trade barriers on intellectual property rights and technology transfer; and how can we develop vaccine manufacturing capacity where it is needed most.
The Governments of Norway and South Africa are co-leads of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator whose purpose is to foster an equitable distribution of COVID-19 tools, particularly to those who need them most, and the fair allocation for COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX which should not be determined by where they live.
Panelists:
- Dr Zweli Mkhize, Minister of Health, Government of South Africa
- Dag-Inge Ulstein Minister of Development and Co-operation, Government of Norway
- Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, WHO
- Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF
Gender-sensitive social protection
The pandemic has exposed the fault lines in social, political and economic systems and demonstrates the need for critical investment in robust social protection frameworks that reduce the impact of shocks, particularly on the most vulnerable. Women and marginalized groups are disproportionately affected by school closures, unpaid care work, gender-based violence and unemployment, and we need to consider the long-term implications of the pandemic’s gendered impacts.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how gender interacts with age, disability, caste, race and class to influence educational attainment, care provision, livelihood security, technological accessibility, healthcare availability and economic independence. This webinar has discussed the political economy of gender-sensitive social protection and drawn upon empirical research in various countries to outline recommendations for a gender-sensitive social protection system drawing from the lessons of the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how gender interacts with age, disability, caste, race and class to influence educational attainment, care provision, livelihood security, technological accessibility, healthcare availability and economic independence. This webinar has discussed the political economy of gender-sensitive social protection and drawn upon empirical research in various countries to outline recommendations for a gender-sensitive social protection system drawing from the lessons of the pandemic.
COVID and the Looming Debt Crisis
Time is fast ticking for a looming debt crisis that threatens to decimate decades of progress for children.
The debt crisis is likely to hit two-thirds of the world’s population. Even before the pandemic 1 in 8 countries spent more on debt than on education, health and social spending combined. And African countries are already spending three times more on debt repayments to banks and private lenders than it would cost to vaccinate the entire continent against Covid-19.
So how can this ticking time bomb be defused?
To coincide with the release of an important policy brief from UNICEF on the debt crisis, Leading Minds will ask the expert panelists:
How do we stop mortgaging children’s futures?
Can debt relief measures turn this tide?
The debt crisis is likely to hit two-thirds of the world’s population. Even before the pandemic 1 in 8 countries spent more on debt than on education, health and social spending combined. And African countries are already spending three times more on debt repayments to banks and private lenders than it would cost to vaccinate the entire continent against Covid-19.
So how can this ticking time bomb be defused?
To coincide with the release of an important policy brief from UNICEF on the debt crisis, Leading Minds will ask the expert panelists:
How do we stop mortgaging children’s futures?
Can debt relief measures turn this tide?
#BOURE2020 webinar series
From 2014 to 2018, more than 70,000 unaccompanied and separated children arrived in Italy by sea. To better understand how to ensure their protection and social inclusion, this research presents an overview of trends and possible pathways to adult life for this group of children in Italy. Children’s voices are amplified by the participatory and youth-led approach, allowing them to express their views on decisions that affect them personally.
Preventing Family Violence
Parenting and caregiving programmes offer a promising pathway to improving gender inequality as well as preventing both intimate partner violence (IPV) and violence against children (VAC) in the home. In this webinar, we highlight key findings and recommendations from parenting programmes that apply a gender-transformative approach to address IPV and VAC together and reflect on how this evidence has been used to strengthen interventions.
Research on violence against children during the COVID-19 pandemic
Several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers across the globe are attempting to find out how the health and socioeconomic crisis brought about by the coronavirus is affecting children’s exposure to violence. Four articles published in the Child Abuse and Neglect Journal provide valuable insights.
On Tuesday 16th March at 13:00 CET, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presents its 3rd webinar on the research on violence against children during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the webinar series on Violence against children & COVID-19.
On Tuesday 16th March at 13:00 CET, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presents its 3rd webinar on the research on violence against children during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the webinar series on Violence against children & COVID-19.
Modelling the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on violent discipline against children
Several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers across the globe are attempting to find out how the health and socioeconomic crisis brought about by the coronavirus is affecting children’s exposure to violence. Four articles published in the Child Abuse and Neglect Journal provide valuable insights.
On Tuesday 23rd March at 13:00 CET, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presents its 4th webinar on the modelled effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on violent discipline against children as part of the webinar series on Violence against children & COVID-19.
Special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa
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.
While Africa may be winning the numbers game, it has come at a massive cost and the real losses are only just being counted. Among them 250 million more children out of school; a loss of more than 6% of economic growth throwing the region into its first-ever economic recession. Added to the climate crisis that is making vast swathes of the continent unlivable, a perfect storm is looming. With aid budgets shrinking in donor countries, can Africa benefit from its own demographic dividend to find African solutions?
We ask our panelists if youth leadership today will bring a brighter tomorrow on poverty, climate action and governance and we explore some out-of-the-box approaches for the region to avoid financial ruin.
On Thursday 3rd December at 15:00 CET | 16:00-17:00 Central African Time EST, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presented its 10th and last Leading Minds for 2020 with a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.
While Africa may be winning the numbers game, it has come at a massive cost and the real losses are only just being counted. Among them 250 million more children out of school; a loss of more than 6% of economic growth throwing the region into its first-ever economic recession. Added to the climate crisis that is making vast swathes of the continent unlivable, a perfect storm is looming. With aid budgets shrinking in donor countries, can Africa benefit from its own demographic dividend to find African solutions?
We ask our panelists if youth leadership today will bring a brighter tomorrow on poverty, climate action and governance and we explore some out-of-the-box approaches for the region to avoid financial ruin.
On Thursday 3rd December at 15:00 CET | 16:00-17:00 Central African Time EST, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti presented its 10th and last Leading Minds for 2020 with a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.
Education Reforms in Global Context: Policy & Practice
Leaders and experts from across the globe will discuss the efforts of international organizations, research institutes and governments to ensure the provision of quality education for all children. COVID-19 has added another layer of challenges vis-a-vis equity, learning and governance. How are governments responding to the COVID-19 educational disruption? What role are international organizations playing in this regard? Is Edtech an effective solution? What kind of research is being conducted to help the decision makers? Are policy makers and development practitioners using evidence to inform policy and practice? What are the key challenges facing education today, and how can different stakeholders join hands to resolve them effectively? We will be discussing all this and more with our panel of high-level experts.
Beyond Masks: A Policy Panel Discussion
UNICEF Innocenti’s new report – Beyond Masks: Societal impacts of COVID-19 and accelerated solutions for children and adolescents – offers a comprehensive picture of the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic, and its implications for children and adolescents. The report examines evidence from the current crisis, examines past health crises such as HIV/AIDS, SARS and Ebola to provide insights into the current one, and proposes proven and promising solutions.
COVID-19, the Infodemic, & Fake News
This golden age of innovation, with a flourishing of new technologies and online platforms, has created extraordinary opportunities for children and young people to enrich their knowledge and information, their social networks, and their solidarity and civic activism like never before. But those same technologies are used, abused and misused to promote fake messages and harm - leading to hate speech, racism, and hostility with often dangerous consequences to democracies, mental health and children and young people.
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?
COVID-19 & the Climate Crisis
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.
Gender-responsive social protection in times of COVID-19
UNICEF Innocenti hosted a roundtable discussion on gender-responsive social protection during COVID-19 at socialprotection.org's 2020 e-conference.