News & Commentary
Article
Child poverty will remain above pre-COVID levels for at least five years in high-income countries
FLORENCE/NEW YORK, 11 December 2020 – Child poverty is expected to remain above pre-COVID levels for at least five years in high-income countries. Yet, only 2 per cent of government-provided financial relief across OECD and EU countries was allocated specifically to support children and families raising children during the first wave of the pandemic, according to a new UNICEF report. Supporting Families and Children Beyond COVID-19: Social Protection in High Income Countries – produced by the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti – explores how the social and economic impact of the pandemic is likely to affect children; the initial government responses to the crisis; and how future public policies could be optimised to better support children.
Press Release
How EdTech plus teachers are breaking down language barriers for refugee and migrant children in Greece
(9 December 2020) Worldwide, an estimated 13 million children are refugees and 19 million children are displaced within their own countries. As of early 2020, around 42,500 refugee and migrant children resided in Greece alone. For many of these children, learning remains out of reach due, in large part, to a lack of knowledge of the host country’s language. As teachers navigate teaching children from various linguistic and academic backgrounds in the same classroom, education technology (EdTech) helps break down this barrier by personalizing learning so each child can learn at their own pace.
Press Release
New study unveils challenges affecting teacher attendance in sub-Saharan Africa
(4 November 2020) Important new research on teacher absenteeism in sub-Saharan Africa was launched today at a regional online workshop of national and international education stakeholders organized in Nairobi, Kenya. Time to Teach: Teacher attendance and time on task in Eastern and Southern Africa, provides insights into the drivers of primary school teacher absenteeism, a major obstacle in efforts to address the learning crisis in children of low- and middle-income countries around the world.
Press Release
Florence turns blue to celebrate World Children's Day 2020
(20 November 2020) The loggia of the Istituto degli Innocenti in Piazza Santissima Annunziata and the historical gates of the city turned blue in celebration of World Children’s Day on 20 November, 2020. An initiative launched by UNICEF to #TurnTheWorldBlue, this year’s event is dedicated to reimagining the post-pandemic future of all children at a time when millions around the world have been hit hard. Coronavirus is having severe impact on the health, well-being and education of children; hence, World Children’s Day aims to empower children to play an active role in creating a more child-friendly world.
Article
Addressing the Multiple Impacts of COVID-19 on Children Beyond Masks
(19 November 2020) From health to education, every child in the world has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many impacted in multiple ways. As the crisis rages on, further entrenching pre-existing inequalities, there is an urgent need for scalable and cost-effective solutions for children. Such solutions require more evidence on COVID-19, which is not yet available. A new report by the UNICEF Office of Research—Innocenti, Beyond Masks: Societal impacts of COVID-19 and accelerated solutions for children and adolescents, examines past health crises (such as HIV/AIDS, SARS, and Ebola) to provide insights into COVID-19, and proposes proven and promising solutions.
Article
Children and COVID-19 Research Library cuts through the noise
(15 November 2020) The UNICEF Office of Research – 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 Children and COVID-19 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.
Article
Children in the poorest countries have lost nearly four months of schooling since start of pandemic
NEW YORK/PARIS/Washington D.C. 29 October 2020 - New report looks at national education responses to COVID-19 including lost learning; remote learning support for students, parents and teachers; school reopening plans; health protocols; and financing. Schoolchildren in low-and lower-middle-income countries have already lost nearly four months of schooling since the start of the pandemic, compared to six weeks of loss in high-income countries, according to a new report published today by UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank.
Press Release
Mapping what we know about ending violence against children
(21 October 2020) While evidence on interventions to reduce violence against children (VAC) has increased in recent years, striking gaps remain that need to be addressed, according to a new report published today by UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti and the Campbell Collaboration.
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.
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.
Article
Report Card 16: Your questions answered
(10 September 2020) Following the launch of our latest Report Card, Worlds of Influence, our Chief of Economic and Social Policy, Dominic Richardson, answers some of the questions asked during our policy panel discussion.
Press Release
World's richest countries grappling with children’s reading and math skills, mental well-being and obesity
FLORENCE/NEW YORK, 3 September 2020 – Suicide, unhappiness, obesity and poor social and academic skills have become far-too-common features of childhood in high-income countries, according to the latest Report Card issued today by the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti. UNICEF’s Report Card Series – now running for 20 years – uses comparable national data to rank EU and OECD countries on childhood. Worlds of Influence: Understanding what shapes child well-being in rich countries uses pre-COVID-19 data and features a league table according to children’s mental and physical health and academic and social skill-set. Based on these indicators the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway rank as the top three places to be a child among wealthy countries.