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19 November 2020

In a new report, released ahead of World Children’s Day tomorrow, UNICEF has warned of significant and growing consequences for children as the COVID-19 pandemic lurches toward a second year.

Averting a Lost COVID Generation is the first UNICEF report to comprehensively outline the dire and growing consequences for children as the pandemic drags on. It shows that while symptoms among infected children remain mild, cases are rising and the longer-term impact on the education, nutrition and well-being of an entire generation of children and young people can be life-altering.

“Here in Australia and around the world, we have all heard the suggestion that children are barely affected by COVID-19. This is far from the truth,” said Nicole Breeze, Director of Australian Programs at UNICEF Australia. “This new report shows that adolescents under 20 account for 1 in every 9 COVID cases, but even this shocking statistic is just the tip of the iceberg.

“In addition to the immediate adverse health impacts on young people who contract the disease, we are also very concerned about the secondary long term impacts like increasing rates of child poverty and disruptions to education. Children’s futures are at risk, both here in Australia and around the world.”

The report finds that, as of 3 November, in 87 countries with age-disaggregated data, children and adolescents under 20 years of age accounted for 1 in 9 of COVID-19 infections, or 11 per cent of the 25.7 million infections reported by these countries. More reliable, age-disaggregated data on infection, deaths and testing is needed to better understand how the crisis impacts the most vulnerable children and guide the response.

While children can transmit the virus to each other and to older age groups, there is strong evidence that, with basic safety measures in place, the net benefits of keeping schools open outweigh the costs of closing them, the report notes. Schools are not a main driver of community transmission, and children are more likely to get the virus outside of school settings.

COVID-related disruptions to critical health and social services for children pose the most serious threat to children. Key findings include:

  • Around one-third of the countries witnessed a drop of at least 10 per cent in coverage for health services such as routine vaccinations. Fear of infection is a prominent reason.  
  • There is a 40 per cent decline in the coverage of nutrition services for women and children across 135 countries. As of October 2020, 265 million children were still missing out on school meals globally. More than 250 million children under 5 could miss the life-protecting benefits of vitamin A supplementation programmes.
  • 65 countries reported a decrease in home visits by social workers in September 2020, compared to the same time last year. 

More alarming data from the report include:

  • As of November 2020, 572 million students are affected across 30 country-wide school closures – 33 per cent of the enrolled students worldwide.
  • An estimated 2 million additional child deaths and 200,000 additional stillbirths could occur over a 12-month period with severe interruptions to health services and rising malnutrition.
  • An additional 6 to 7 million children under the age of 5 will suffer from wasting or acute malnutrition in 2020, a 14 per cent rise that will translate into more than 10,000 additional child deaths per month – mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
  • Globally, the number of children living in multidimensional poverty – without access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation or water – is estimated to have soared by 15 per cent, or an additional 150 million children by mid-2020. 

To respond to this crisis, UNICEF is calling on governments and partners to:

  1. Ensure all children learn, including by closing the digital divide.
  2. Guarantee access to nutrition and health services and make vaccines affordable and available to every child.
  3. Support and protect the mental health of children and young people and bring an end to abuse, gender-based violence and neglect in childhood.
  4. Increase access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene and address environmental degradation and climate change.
  5. Reverse the rise in child poverty and ensure an inclusive recovery for all.
  6. Redouble efforts to protect and support children and their families living through conflict, disaster and displacement. 

This World Children’s Day, UNICEF Australia has joined with leading children’s agencies to ask the Australian Government to adopt this six point plan, particularly to avoid the economic impacts of the pandemic plunging hundreds of thousands of children into poverty.

“Australia has been a world leader in its response to COVID-19 and we applaud the Government for their investment in social support, public health and international aid,” Ms Breeze said.

“However this report highlights the need for a long term mindset. Our biggest concern is that social protection and support is withdrawn too early, putting hundreds of thousands of families at risk. We must prioritise the most vulnerable and ensure that every child is getting a fair chance.”

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For editors:

Download photos, broll and the embargoed report here.

The report will go live at 11:01 AEDT / 00.01 GMT 19 November here: https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/six-point-plan-protect-children

For the UNICEF survey on disruptions to child services due to COVID-19 across 148 countries from 17 August to 17 September, click here.

The data used for the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among children and adolescents under age 20 is the re-analyzed country-level data from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) (https://osf.io/mpwjq/).