UNICEF: Future of 600 million
children in South Asia at risk due to pandemic
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Mumbai
The author of a new UNICEF report says that more than 600
million children in South Asia will see their life prospects diminished over
the coming months unless urgent action is taken.
By Lydia O’Kane
This week, the UN Children’s Agency, UNICEF warned that the
Coronavirus pandemic is “unravelling decades of health, education and other
advances for children across South Asia”.
In a new report issued on Tuesday, the agency said that
“governments must take urgent action to prevent millions of families from
slipping back into poverty.”
The findings of the report entitled, “Lives Upended” show
that the “side effects of the pandemic are having severe consequences for the
region’s 600 million children.”
According to the document, “immunization, nutrition and
other vital health services have been severely disrupted, potentially
threatening the lives of up to 459,000 children and mothers over the next six
months.”
Effects on families
Speaking to Vatican Radio following its publication, the
report’s author, Simon Ingram said that although it has been apparent for some
time that the scale of the pandemic was having a devastating effect on a number
of vital services affecting children, “what came as much more of a surprise was
the speed with which the economic meltdown in the region, brought on by
COVID-19, had on families.”
He noted that very rapidly following the outbreak, families
were unable to feed themselves, and in many cases could not afford medical care
for their children.
The true extent of the situation is now becoming apparent
with the very real risk that “another 120 million children are being pushed
into poverty over the coming months”, he said.
Food insecurity is on the rise, according to the report,
especially in countries such as Bangladesh where some of the poorest families
are unable to afford three meals a day.
However, Mr Ingram underlined that for countries in South
Asia this dramatic situation, “is really across the boards.” He pointed to Afghanistan
which already has pre-existing problems, such as malnutrition and an ongoing
conflict. But he also said the Maldives, which has made significant progress in
recent years, in terms of education and health, is now feeling the dramatic
effects of the pandemic, most notably in the area of tourism.
Education
From an education perspective, more than 430 million
children have had to rely on remote learning due to the pandemic. UNICEF
underlined that “many households– especially in rural areas – have no electricity,
let alone internet access.”
The report’s author described the impact of the pandemic on
education as both, “horrific and terrible”. He also said UNICEF is calling on
schools to be re-opened for children to continue learning, provided they can be
opened safely. “While we understand that governments have had to take very
difficult decisions, especially in the beginning in order to protect their
populations against the pandemic, the evidence has not been sufficient in
our view to justify the continuing closure of schools.”
Abuse
Another concern, the children’s agency pointed out, is an
increase in violence, abuse and neglect of children living amid restricted
freedom of movement and socio-economic decline.
During the outbreak, Mr Ingram noted, UNICEF saw a “spike in
the number of calls from children who said they were the victims of abuse and
violence because they were locked down at home; locked down essentially with
their abusers.” He also stressed that health and socials workers, due to a lack
of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were finding it difficult to look into
cases of children reporting abuse.
Long term impact
According to the findings, “in recent years rising levels of
prosperity produced significant health, education and other advances for
children in South Asia”. The document also shows that “improvements in
infant and maternal mortality were matched by declines in the number of
out-of-school children and in child marriages.”
But due to the economic meltdown triggered by Coronavirus,
families across the region are suffering. As in many countries around the
world, unemployment has risen, wages have been cut and tourism has been greatly
affected.
In the light of this, Mr Ingram said that “right across the
board, there’s a very real danger that more than 600 million children in
South Asia will see their life prospects diminished sadly over the coming
months unless urgent action is taken.”
In order to mitigate the impact on poorer families, the
report says, “Governments should immediately direct more resources towards
social protection schemes, including emergency universal child benefits and
school feeding programmes.”
Mr Ingram expressed the hope that “the flip side” of this
report, will be a call to action in the region to undertake these essential
steps, that will give the poorest families and the most vulnerable children in
the region protection against the worst effects of the pandemic.
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