Over 99% of the world’s children live with some form of pandemic-related movement restrictions; while 60% live in countries with full or partial lockdowns. UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore stated that children and young people are among the most severely impacted victims.
“According to our analysis, 99 percent of children and young people under 18 worldwide (2.34 billion) live in one of the 186 countries with some form of movement restrictions in place due to COVID-19. Sixty percent of all children live in one of the 82 countries with a full (7%) or partial (53%) lockdown – accounting for 1.4 billion young lives” said the director.
“We know that, in any crisis, the young and the most vulnerable suffer disproportionately. This pandemic is no different. It is our responsibility to prevent suffering, save lives and protect the health of every child. We must also ensure that risk-informed decisions on COVID-19 control measures are made based on the best available evidence in order to minimize and prevent any collateral damage and to provide mitigation measures so the damage is not lasting” he added.
This week, UNICEF is launching our global agenda for action to protect the most vulnerable children from harm.
The agenda has six pillars:
1) Keep children healthy and safe
2) Reach vulnerable children with water, sanitation, and hygiene
3) Keep children learning
4) Support families to cover their needs and care for their children
5) Protect children from violence, exploitation, and abuse
6) Protect refugee and migrant children, and those affected by conflict.
UNICEF emphasized that without urgent action, this health crisis risks becoming a child rights crisis and only by working together can millions of girls and boys healthy, safe and learning.
