Covid-19's impact could mean millions more child marriages: UNICEF

‘The outsized impact COVID-19 has had on women in some countries could result in an additional 10 million child marriages in this decade, according to a new analysis released on Monday (Mar 8) by UNICEF. "School closures, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy and parental deaths due to the pandemic are putting the most vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage," said a study titled COVID-19: A Threat to Progress Against Child Marriage.’

Read here (Straits Times, Mar 7, 2021)

Covid-19 pandemic has shown humanity at its best – & at its worst: WHO DG before the UNICEF Executive Board

‘Ultimately, our fight is not against a single virus. Our fight is against the inequalities that leave children in some countries exposed to deadly diseases that are easily prevented in others; Our fight is against the inequalities that mean women and their babies die during childbirth in some countries because of complications that are easily prevented in others;

‘And our fight is to ensure that health is no longer a commodity or a luxury item, but a fundamental human right, and the foundation of the safer, fairer and more sustainable world we all want.

‘History will not judge us solely by how we ended the COVID-19 pandemic, but what we learned, what we changed, and the future we left our children.’

Read here (IPS News, Feb 11, 2021)

Teachers should receive COVID-19 vaccine priority: UNICEF

‘The head of the UN children's agency, UNICEF, called on Tuesday (Dec 15) for teachers to be among those given priority access to the COVID-19 vaccines. "The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on children's education around the globe. Vaccinating teachers is a critical step towards putting it back on track," UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore said in a statement. Teachers should be "prioritised to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, once frontline health personnel and high-risk populations are vaccinated," she said.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Dec 15, 2020)

Addressing Malaysia’s nutrition crisis post Covid-19: Time for nutrition-focused social protection

• With stunting and wasting at 21.8 and 9.7% respectively in 2019, Malaysia was experiencing a malnutrition crisis even prior to COVID-19.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has directly resulted in a severe economic crisis that will exacerbate food and nutrition insecurity.
• People who are already exposed to critical food and dietary deprivations before COVID-19 are most vulnerable to food insecurity.
• Food and nutrition insecurity are linked to malnutrition, where children in households with food insecurity were more likely to be malnourished.
• Beyond the consequences for individuals and families, food and nutrition insecurity has been linked to long-term economic effects such as higher health care expenditures, lower educational achievement, lost productivity, lower earnings in adulthood and increased risk of poverty later in life.
• Strengthening child-sensitive and nutrition-focused social protection is essential to reducing vulnerability, building resilience, and mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 crisis and should be a top policy priority

Download PDF here (Unicef, Nov 2020)

Families on the edge [Malaysia]: Issue 1 -- The immediate impact of the Movement Control Order period

‘In May 2020 UNICEF and UNFPA jointly commissioned the Families on the Edge study to explore the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on women and children in low income urban families in Malaysia. This report is the first in a series of reports under the Families on the Edge project and describes the immediate socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on a group of 500 families with children in Kuala Lumpur’s low-cost flats, as well as preliminary insights on the relevance, adequacy and accessibility of key COVID-19 mitigation policies and other critical social services for this particularly vulnerable group. Future reports are expected to monitor the extent to which these families recover and offer critical insights for the general public and policymakers as Malaysia aims to ‘build-back-better’

Read here (Unicef Malaysia, August 2020)

Download the 36-page report here (Unicef Malaysia, August 2020)

Child malnutrition and Covid-19: The time to act is now

‘The Lancet recently published a call to action co-authored by the directors of UNICEF, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme, and the WHO. The statement addresses the growing threat of childhood malnutrition due to downstream effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated response policies and operations, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The statement listed 5 “urgent actions” to support children's right to adequate nutrition during the pandemic. Specifically, the authors call on national governments and private donors to support efforts to ensure access to nutritious, safe, and affordable diets; maternal and child health; early detection and treatment for child wasting; nutritious school meals for vulnerable children; and safe access to food and essential services. These priorities must be integrated more completely into the COVID-19 response.’ -- Center for Health Security, John Hopkins University

Read here (The Lancet, July 27, 2020)