Innocenti Research Report COVID-19 and the Looming Debt Crisis: Protecting and Transforming Social Spending for Inclusive Recoveries Published: 2021 Innocenti Research Report 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. It highlights countries that are most at risk due to high levels of poverty, as well as those less likely to benefit from the G20 Debt Standstill (DSSI). It concludes that a new international debt restructuring architecture, which encompasses the needs of poorer countries, is crucial to protecting children’s rights in the wake of COVID-19. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 33 | Thematic area: Social protection | Tags: COVID-19, COVID-19 response, debt relief, education, low-income countries, middle-income countries, nutrition, social protection × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION 2021 COVID-19 and the Looming Debt Crisis: Protecting and Transforming Social Spending for Inclusive Recoveries. , pp. 33.