February 10, 2021
Anna Murray
The prominent United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore addressed at the UNICEF Executive Board in New York on February 9, Safer Internet Day this year. Earlier on February 8, Fore also addressed about the growing concern for the well-being of children and young people amid soaring screen time.
Executive Director Henrietta Fore warned that the world has failed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fore pointed out children’s safety and lives had been already threatened by worsening humanitarian emergencies, by continued violence, by poverty, exclusion, and discrimination. Besides, the effects of a changing climate, a denial of their basic rights to health and education, and economic and societal inequalities limit their futures as well.
According to UNICEF's press release, Fore indicated disadvantages during 2020 due to lockdowns, transportation and movement restrictions, interruptions in vital services of immunizations and basic healthcare, school closures, and economic impacts. About 1.6 billion children were shut out of school without internet access at home. In addition, as stated in Fore’s press release, 2 billion children have faced disruptions in their countries’ violence prevention and response services.
As for the prospective in 2021, Fore emphasized food insecurity and malnutrition have spiked with an additional 132 million people poised to go hungry, including 44 million children. Moreover, Fore worried regional and global economies would be facing a deep and prolonged recession.
Similar findings have been brought up by many experts around the world. Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the UK, shared his viewpoint on the Education Select Committee earlier in January that the closure of schools has been damaging to children's education. New research released on February 10 from Camp Australia, the nation’s largest provider of Outside School Hours Care (OSHC), revealed school disruption to children aged 6-12 amid the COVID-19 pandemic influenced their physical and mental wellbeing significantly. Chief Operating Officer for Camp Australia, Brett Comer, hopes to improve their teaching methods according to the research.
Photo:Webshot.