Innocenti Research Briefs 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 AUTHOR(S) Dita Nugroho; Chiara Pasquini; Nicolas Reuge; Diogo Amaro Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs 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. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 8 | Thematic area: Education | Tags: education, learning, remote learning, vulnerable children × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Dita Nugroho; Chiara Pasquini; Nicolas Reuge; Diogo Amaro 2020 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. , pp. 8.
Innocenti Research Briefs Bringing Education to the Most Marginalized Girls in Nepal: Evidence from the Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) programme Let Us Learn: Nepal research brief AUTHOR(S) Cirenia Chavez; Annika Rigole; Purnima Gurung; Dilli Prasad Paudel; Bimala Manandhar Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs This research brief provides a snapshot of Girls’ Access To Education (GATE), a non-formal education programme that aims to bring the most marginalized adolescent girls in Nepal into school. The nine-month programme provides out-of-school girls with the basic literacy, numeracy and life skills they need to enter and learn in formal schooling. The analysis draws on GATE monitoring data for 2018/19, covering 7,394 GATE beneficiaries in five districts of Nepal, and is combined with qualitative evidence including case studies and focus group discussions with former GATE participants conducted in 2019. The mixed-methods analysis finds that the GATE programme has been highly effective, with 95% completion of the programme by enrolled girls and 89% of girls making the successful transition to formal school. Moreover, GATE graduates enrolled in Grades 3 to 5 in formal schools outperformed non-GATE girls enrolled in the same grades, even though GATE girls overwhelmingly had no prior formal school experience. Qualitative evidence reveals that poverty, caring responsibilities and parents’ traditional views may be important factors in explaining why GATE girls had never previously attended school. Despite this, GATE beneficiaries who were interviewed maintain a positive outlook on the future and have clear career goals. One of the recommendations stemming from this brief is to explore the feasibility of expanding GATE approaches to target out-of-school children in other contexts, as GATE has been a cost-effective solution in the context of Nepal. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 9 | Thematic area: Education | Tags: access to education, education, learning × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Cirenia Chavez; Annika Rigole; Purnima Gurung; Dilli Prasad Paudel; Bimala Manandhar 2020 Bringing Education to the Most Marginalized Girls in Nepal: Evidence from the Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) programme Let Us Learn: Nepal research brief. , pp. 9.
Innocenti Research Briefs Impact of the United Republic of Tanzania’s Productive Social Safety Net on Child Labour and Education AUTHOR(S) Jacobus de Hoop; Margaret W. Gichane; Valeria Groppo; Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs In the United Republic of Tanzania, nearly 30 per cent of children engage in child labour.1 About 30 per cent of children do not attend school and another 20 per cent combine school and work. Although state schools do not charge fees, households still face schooling costs, including for uniforms, shoes, books and school materials. With funding from the United States Department of Labor, researchers at the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti examined whether the PSSN leads to improved schooling and reduced engagement in child labour.2 To do so, the research team combined a quantitative impact evaluation with a qualitative study involving children and caregivers. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 5 | Thematic area: Child Work and Labour | Tags: child labour, school fees, social protection programmes × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Jacobus de Hoop; Margaret W. Gichane; Valeria Groppo; Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski 2020 Impact of the United Republic of Tanzania’s Productive Social Safety Net on Child Labour and Education. , pp. 5.
Innocenti Research Briefs How Do Cash Transfers Affect Child Work and Schooling? Surprising evidence from Malawi, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia AUTHOR(S) Jacobus de Hoop; Valeria Groppo Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs Cash transfers supplement household income, but can they also reduce child labour? With generous funding from the United States Department of Labor, researchers at the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti evaluated the impact of three large-scale, government cash transfer programmes to answer this question. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 7 | Thematic area: Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: child labour, schooling, social protection × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Jacobus de Hoop; Valeria Groppo 2020 How Do Cash Transfers Affect Child Work and Schooling? Surprising evidence from Malawi, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. , pp. 7.
Innocenti Research Briefs Childcare in a Global Crisis: The Impact of COVID-19 on work and family life AUTHOR(S) Anna Gromada; Dominic Richardson; Gwyther Rees Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs The COVID-19 crisis that has engulfed the world during 2020 challenges children’s education, care and well-being. Many parents struggle to balance their responsibilities for childcare and paid employment, with a disproportionate burden placed on women. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation of families had been described as ‘a global childcare crisis’. It is estimated that over 35 million children under five years old are sometimes left without adult supervision, a factor often linked to economic pressures on parents to work. With the arrival of the pandemic, 99 per cent of the world’s 2.36 billion children found themselves in a country with some movement restrictions, including 60 per cent under some form of lockdown. This has made childcare an even greater challenge for parents.Globally, the work of childcare is done predominantly by women. This includes mothers and also other female caregivers such as grandmothers, siblings and workers in the childcare sector. In 2018, 606 million working-age women considered themselves to be unavailable for employment or not seeking a job because of unpaid care work, compared to only 41 million men. This imbalance has major implications for women’s employment and income opportunities and for children’s development and well-being.UNICEF has previously called for a set of four family-friendly policies for children in the early years, comprising paid parental leave; breastfeeding support; accessible, affordable and good-quality childcare; and child benefits. We have shown that even some of the world’s richest countries fare poorly in terms of these policies, which is a reflection of their policy priorities rather than available resources.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 theglobal childcare crisis through paid parental leave, followed by accessible, affordable and high-quality childcare. COVID-19 economic recovery packages have, to date, directed the vast majority of resources to firms rather than to households. This can be changed through public provision of childcare, subsidies, social protection floors and tax incentives. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 11 × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Anna Gromada; Dominic Richardson; Gwyther Rees 2020 Childcare in a Global Crisis: The Impact of COVID-19 on work and family life. , pp. 11.
Innocenti Research Briefs Research Brief: Impacts of Pandemics and Epidemics on Child Protection: Lessons learned from a rapid review in the context of COVID-19 AUTHOR(S) Shivit Bakrania; Ramya Subrahmanian Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs This research brief summarizes the findings of a rapid review that 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. The evidence on the impacts of pandemics and epidemics on child protection outcomes is limited and skewed towards studies on the effects of HIV/AIDS on stigma. There is also some evidence on the effects of Ebola on outcomes such as orphanhood, sexual violence and exploitation, and school enrolment, attendance and dropout. The evidence on other pandemics or epidemics, including COVID-19. is extremely limited.There are various pathways through which infectious disease outbreaks can exacerbate vulnerabilities, generate new risks and result in negative outcomes for children. Outcomes are typically multi-layered, with immediate outcomes for children, families and communities - such as being orphaned, stigmatization and discrimination and reductions in household income - leading to further negative risks and outcomes for children in the intermediate term. These risks include child labour and domestic work, harmful practices (including early marriage), and early and adolescent pregnancy. Lessons from previous pandemics and epidemics suggest that the following could mitigate the child protection risks:Responding to children in vulnerable circumstances, including orphans (e.g. throughpsychosocial interventions focused on improving mental health and community-based interventions that provide families with resources and access to services)Responding to stigmatization and discrimination (e.g. throughinformation and communication campaigns and support from public health systems, communities and schools)Investing in social protectionenable livelihoods during outbreaks and to counteract shocksPromoting access to health, protective and justice services, which may be restricted or suspending during infectious disease outbreaksEnsuring continued access to education, particularly for girls, who may be adversely affectedThere is a high burden of proof for data collection during the current COVID-19 outbreak than there would be in normal circumstances. Evidence generation strategies during and after the COVID-19 crisis should consider rigorous retrospective reviews and building upon monitoring, evidence and learning functions of pre-existing programmes – particularly where there is ongoing longitudinal data collection. There should also be efforts to synthesize evidence from existing research on the effectiveness of interventions that respond to the key risk pathways identified in this review. The full report can be found here.Access the Evidence Gap Map on child protection and violence outcomes here.Access the study protocol here. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 6 | Tags: child labour, child protection, COVID-19, COVID-19 response, HIV and AIDS, mental health, outbreak preparedness, pandemic, public policy, school dropouts × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Shivit Bakrania; Ramya Subrahmanian 2020 Research Brief: Impacts of Pandemics and Epidemics on Child Protection: Lessons learned from a rapid review in the context of COVID-19. , pp. 6.
Innocenti Research Briefs Brief: Exploring Critical Issues in the Ethical Involvement of Children with Disabilities in Evidence Generation and Use AUTHOR(S) Stephen Thompson; Mariah Cannon; Mary Wickenden Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs This research brief details the main ethical challenges and corresponding mitigation strategies identified in the literature with regard to the ethical involvement of children with disabilities in evidence generation activities. The findings detailed in this summary brief are based on a rapid review of 57 relevant papers identified through an online search using a systematic approach and consultation with experts. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 10 | Tags: ethics × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Stephen Thompson; Mariah Cannon; Mary Wickenden 2020 Brief: Exploring Critical Issues in the Ethical Involvement of Children with Disabilities in Evidence Generation and Use. , pp. 10.
Innocenti Research Briefs Does COVID-19 Affect the Health of Children and Young People More Than We Thought? The case for disaggregated data to inform action AUTHOR(S) Priscilla Idele; David Anthony; Kaku Attah Damoah; Danzhen You Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs 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.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. But demographic profiles differ widely between countries, and assumptions and narratives based on evidence taken from ageing societies, typical of HICs, may not hold for more youthful and growing populations, as illustrated by the contrast between the age-cohort profiles of COVID-19 cases for Italy and Kenya. For this reason, and given that the vast majority of the world’s children and young people live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and territories, we began to investigate the burden of COVID-19 cases among children and young people under 20 globally. + - Cite this publication | Thematic area: Health × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Priscilla Idele; David Anthony; Kaku Attah Damoah; Danzhen You 2020 Does COVID-19 Affect the Health of Children and Young People More Than We Thought? The case for disaggregated data to inform action.
Innocenti Research Briefs Digital Connectivity During COVID-19: Access to vital information for every child AUTHOR(S) Daniel Kardefelt Winther; Rogers Twesigye; Rostislav Zlámal; Marium Saeed; David Smahel; Mariya Stoilova; Sonia Livingstone Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs Children’s digital access – or lack thereof – during the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly determined whether children can continue their education, seek information, stay in touch with friends and family, and enjoy digital entertainment. With over 1.5 billion children across 190 countries confined to their homes, active video games or dance videos may also be their best chance to exercise. The rationale for closing digital divides has never been starker or more urgent. This data-driven research brief explores 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? The brief analyzes survey data from the ITU World Telecommunications/ICT Indicators database, as well as household-survey data collected from approximately 22,000 children aged 12-16, generated by the collective work of the EU Kids Online and Global Kids Online research networks. It concludes with recommendations on how stakeholders can ensure that children’s health information needs are better supported during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 6 | Tags: access to information, COVID-19 response, health × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Daniel Kardefelt Winther; Rogers Twesigye; Rostislav Zlámal; Marium Saeed; David Smahel; Mariya Stoilova; Sonia Livingstone 2020 Digital Connectivity During COVID-19: Access to vital information for every child. , pp. 6.
Innocenti Research Briefs Digital Contact Tracing and Surveillance During COVID-19: General and child-specific ethical issues AUTHOR(S) Karen Carter; Gabrielle Berman; Manuel Garcia Herranz; Vedran Sekara Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs The response to COVID-19 has seen an unprecedented rapid scaling up of technologies to support digital contact tracing and surveillance. The consequent collation and use of personally identifiable data may however pose significant risks to children’s rights. This is compounded by the greater number and more varied players making decisions about how data, including children’s data, are used and how related risks are assessed and handled. This means that we need to establish clear governance processes for these tools and the data collection process and engage with a broader set of government and industry partners to ensure that children’s rights are not overlooked. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 3 | Thematic area: Ethical research | Tags: children's rights, COVID-19 response, data collection, ethical research, privacy, respect for privacy, right to privacy × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Karen Carter; Gabrielle Berman; Manuel Garcia Herranz; Vedran Sekara 2020 Digital Contact Tracing and Surveillance During COVID-19: General and child-specific ethical issues. , pp. 3.
Innocenti Research Briefs Parental Engagement in Children’s Learning: Insights for remote learning response during COVID-19 AUTHOR(S) Mathieu Brossard; Manuel Cardoso; Akito Kamei; Sakshi Mishra; Suguru Mizunoya; Nicolas Reuge Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs This research brief is one of a series that explores the impact of COVID-19 on education. It 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. In India alone, 320 million students from pre-primary to tertiary level are affected by school closures. In sub-Saharan Africa, 240 million are affected. With children currently not able to study in classrooms, the importance of learning at home is amplified and the task of supporting children’s learning has fallen on parents at a much larger rate. This is a significant burden, particularly for those who are also teleworking and those with limited schooling themselves. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 6 | Thematic area: Education | Tags: child education, COVID-19 response, learning, parental responsibility × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Mathieu Brossard; Manuel Cardoso; Akito Kamei; Sakshi Mishra; Suguru Mizunoya; Nicolas Reuge 2020 Parental Engagement in Children’s Learning: Insights for remote learning response during COVID-19 . , pp. 6.
Innocenti Research Briefs Promising Practices for Equitable Remote Learning. Emerging lessons from COVID-19 education responses in 127 countries AUTHOR(S) Thomas Dreesen; Spogmai Akseer; Mathieu Brossard; Pragya Dewan; Juan-Pablo Giraldo; Akito Kamei; Suguru Mizunoya; Javier Santiago Ortiz Correa Published: 2020 Innocenti Research Briefs 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. Governments and education stakeholders have responded swiftly to continue children’s learning, using various delivery channels including digital tools, TV/radio-based teaching and take-home packages for parent or carer-guided education.However, the massive scale of school closures has laid bare the uneven distribution of the technology needed to facilitate remote learning. It has also highlighted the lack of preparedness and low resilience of systems to support teachers, facilitators and parents/caregivers in the successful and safe use of technology for learning.Using data on access to technology from household surveys (MICS and DHS) and information on national education responses to school closures gathered from UNICEF education staff in over 120 countries, this brief explores potential promising practices for equitable remote learning. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 10 | Thematic area: Education | Tags: COVID-19 response × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Thomas Dreesen; Spogmai Akseer; Mathieu Brossard; Pragya Dewan; Juan-Pablo Giraldo; Akito Kamei; Suguru Mizunoya; Javier Santiago Ortiz Correa 2020 Promising Practices for Equitable Remote Learning. Emerging lessons from COVID-19 education responses in 127 countries. , pp. 10.