The COVID-19 outbreak is having devastating consequences for children and their rights. Children may have loved ones who are sick, or unable to work, their country’s health system is overwhelmed. Children have had their education disrupted by school closures and many will be confused and frightened about the sudden changes they are seeing in their lives. Inside and outside Europe, many children face the prospect of poverty. The most deprived and marginalised children and their families are the most vulnerable in any community. They may be financially insecure, or have poor access to healthcare, support and protection. Strains on public services can also result in the breakdown of referrals between health and child protection systems, and the weakening of child protection services. Many will not know where their next meal will come from. Hardships related to the loss of livelihoods may also push children and families to take up negative coping mechanisms, which increase girls’ and boys’ exposure to family separation, child marriage, child labour, and sexual exploitation and abuse.
For children living in fragile places like conflict zones, refugee camps, and overcrowded communities, where people are already struggling to survive, COVID-19 could have a devastating impact. As with any time of crisis, women and girls are likely to be disproportionately affected.
If the international community, governments and donors do not ensure adequate measures to protect children’s rights to health, education and strengthen child protection systems, there is a real danger that the world will see a reversal of the gains made over the last 20 years and deeply affect the realisation of children’s rights.
Save the Children
- Coronavirus Emergency Appeal
- 20 April 2020 First case of COVID-19 in North East Syria: dire conditions prompt outbreak fears for thousands of children
- 17 April 2020 Save the Children: ‘Outbreak could cause millions of children to suffer for years to come’
- 17 April 2020 New child-friendly handwashing video launched for communities forgotten by COVID-19 crisis
- 10 April 2020 First case of COVID-19 reported by authorities in Yemen
- 8 April 2020 Civil Society urges increased commitment to Education Cannot Wait to fund and scale up COVID-19 response efforts
- 7 April 2020 Save the Children backs call for concerted global action on coronavirus
- 6 April 2020 COVID-19 and Gender Equality
- 2 April 2020 “We are not ready in Gaza to face Coronavirus”: Jana’s* story
- 2 April 2020 Civil-Military Coordination: COVID-19 Humanitarian Response
- 27 March 2020 Protecting a Generation from COVID-19: An agenda for action
Amnesty International
- 18 June 2020 Egypt: Health care workers forced to make impossible choice between ‘death or jail’
- 17 June 2020 Nicaragua: International organizations call on president Ortega to stop harassment and arbitrary dismissals of health workers and open joint NGO letter to President Ortega
- 12 June 2020 Southern Africa: Persons with albinism especially vulnerable in the face of COVID-19
- 17 April 2020 Southern Africa: Government intervention required as millions face hunger under COVID-19 lockdown regimes
CIHRS Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
- 26 June 2020 “PALESTINE: Civil Society Submit Appeal to UN Special Procedures Urging Access for Gaza Patients”
- 08 April 2020 Israeli Apartheid Undermines Palestinian Right to Health Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
EuroMed Rights
- 7 April 2020 Israel : Health, human rights organisations : Israel must respect its obligations
HRW
- 9 April 2020 COVID-19 and Children’s Rights
- 19 March 2020 Pandemic shakes up world’s education systems
- 22 March 2020 Access to Water Vital in COVID-19 Response
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
- 1 April 2020 COVID-19 Symposium: COVID-19 Responses and State Obligations Concerning the Right to Health (Part 1)
- 1 April 2020 COVID-19 Symposium: COVID-19 Responses and State Obligations Concerning the Right to Health (Part 2)
- 27 March 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: Zimbabwe must act urgently to protect the right to health of inhabitants
- 25 March 2020 South Africa: authorities must take immediate measures to protect social and economic rights before nationwide lockdown commences
International Service for Human Rights
Plan International
- 1 April 2020, Pushing for Equality for Girls in the Age of COVID-19
- 31 March 2020, COVID-19 School Closures around the World will Hit Girls the Hardest
- 31 March 2020, Tackling COVID-19: Lessons Learnt from Ebola
- 27 March 2020, Guide to Talking to Children about COVID-19
Terre des Hommes International Federation (TDHIF)
- 3 April 2020 (joint letter) Open letter to European governments: Immediately honour commitments to relocate unaccompanied children from the Greek islands
- 31 March 2020 Joint statement (in Dutch) The corona crisis requires national and international solidarity
- 27 March 2020 Accelerate release of children from detention; Protect children from COVID-19
- 26 March (in Dutch) DURING CORONA CRISIS, PAY ATTENTION TO VULNERABLE CHILDREN
- 25 March 2020 How does COVID-19 impact development aid?
- 22 March2020 Making safe drinking water accessible to all
Quaker Council for European Affairs
April 2020 Covid-19 analysis from QCEA
- War language does not help
- Stories from policy changes in 13 countries
- Inequality and Covid-19
- After the Covid Crisis
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World Vision
- 14 May 2020 COVID-19 Risks to children’s health and nutrition
- 14 May 2020 COVID-19 Aftershocks: A Perfect Storm
- 5 may 2020 Policy Brief: COVID-19 & Conflict Sensitivity
- 30 April – World Vision – COVID-19: We are rising to the moment
- 20 April COVID-19 & Child Protection in Fragile and Humanitarian Contexts
15 April 2020 Children’s voices in times of Covid-19 - 7 April 2020 Coronavirus: 30 million children’s lives at risk from secondary effects of deadly disease
- 6 April 2020 Civil society working in the field of global health address Commissioner Urpilainen
- 19 March 2020 World Vision launches multi-million-dollar 17-country Coronavirus response