Global Leaders Must Prioritise Children ’s Wellbeing amid Coronavirus Pandemic – UN

This playground just outside the Slovak capital, Bratislava, was sealed off to stop people spreading the virus. Similar measures were in place in cities and towns across Europe. Credit: Ed Holt/IPS By Samira SadequeUNITED NATIONS, Apr 17 2020 (IPS) United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on Thursday pleaded with global leaders and families to ensure the protection of the world’s children, millions of whom he says are vulnerable to a myriad of threats as a result of the shutdown arising from the global coronavirus pandemic.  While children are at a significantly lower health risk than adults from the coronavirus, the social and economic impacts as a result of both the disease as well as the lockdown can be extremely harmful on children, a new report has revealed.   Guterres made his remarks at the launch of the policy brief “The Impact of COVID-19 on children” that examines the different areas in which children are affected: health, family life, education, lack of access to healthcare, and increased risks as a result of heightened presence online.  The report claims that about 60 percent of all children around the world are currently in a country that is maintaining some level of a lockdown, which is limiting their mobility and/or access to society. Nearly all the grave impacts arise out of children not being able to go to school anymore.  The report states that with 188 countries enforcing a lockdown, more than 1.5 billion children and youth are bei...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Education Featured Global Headlines Health IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Regional Categories TerraViva United Nations Coronavirus COVID-19 Source Type: news