The COVID-19 crisis that affected the entire human society, destroying the world economy, could not leave out of its reach the children, the most beautiful and innocent part of human society, who have the right to enjoy and be educated. in complete freedom, within the permitted norms of a democratic citizenship and with equal rights. This crisis today could have significant long-term negative impacts on children tomorrow, worldwide (1). This impact can be devastating, although children affected by coronavirus do not show severe symptoms and the mortality rate among them is lower than in other age groups.
More than 1.5 billion students worldwide no longer attend school. Losses caused by unemployment and declining incomes, as well as economic insecurity involving families, will lead to increased child labor, sexual exploitation, pregnancy in adolescents, and child marriage. Difficulties faced by families, especially those living in quarantine or restricted movement, increase the risk of domestic violence. While there is an increase in the number of deaths due to COVID-19, a large number of children will be found orphaned and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
The risks posed by the COVID-19 crisis to children are tremendous. Governments must act urgently to protect children during pandemics, but must also consider how the decisions they will make today will properly respect the rights of children after the end of the crisis (1).
For many children, the COVID-19 crisis means interrupting or limiting their schooling, or lagging behind others. More than 91% of students have dropped out of school after school institutions closed in at least 188 places. The crisis has highlighted great inequalities regarding the preparation of places in coping with emergencies, children's access to the Internet and the availability of pedagogical material. While there is a lot of talk today about online learning platforms, many public educational institutions are not organized to use them and do not have the technology and equipment needed to develop online learning. Despite the developments and achievements in the field of information technology, we must admit that almost half of humanity today does not have access to the Internet.
The additional difficulties facing families due to the COVID-19 crisis, including job loss, isolation, increased and compulsory restraint, and health and financial problems, will be associated with quite negative effects as mentioned above, such as the increase in domestic violence, both on the partner and on the children by the adults who care for them. The UN Secretary-General has warned of a "horrific" worldwide increase in domestic violence due to COVID-19. It has been found that calls to emergency numbers in most countries are increasing every day. Also, the chances of detecting cases of child abuse are lower during the COVID-19 crisis, as social and state institutions dealing with child protection fail to perform their function due to restrictive measures. Also, since school institutions are closed and it is impossible for teachers to supervise children, teachers themselves do not have the opportunity to notice the signs of child abuse.
Experts estimate that the total number of deaths in the world due to COVID-19 so far is 148,663, infected 2,206,690, cured 558,440 (2). In the coming days these figures will come increasing and may be much higher. Under these conditions there is a possibility that many children may lose one or both parents, or lose adult caregivers.
But orphaned children are particularly vulnerable to trafficking in human beings and other forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation, begging, forced labor such as street selling. Older children often drop out of school in an effort to help their younger siblings.
The global economic recession caused by the COVID-19 crisis, mainly the massive loss of jobs, leads not only to increased child labor, but also to their early marriages. Worldwide, it is estimated that 152 million children have been affected by COVID-19 pandemics since the work of juveniles, 73 million of whom did dangerous work. Meanwhile, research has shown that children's work was closely linked to the financial hardship suffered by the family, for example due to an illness, job loss from one of the parents or some other problem. The COVID-19 crisis increases the risk of sexual exploitation of children online. Europol reports that law enforcement partners are reporting "increased online activity by individuals seeking material that shows child abuse" as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. Even as children spend more time online due to school closures, feeling more lonely or stressed due to isolation, they become more vulnerable to online wrongdoers.
Millions of children are serving their sentences in the judicial system, where they are being held in migrant prisons or in orphanages and other institutions. Moreover, potential misinformation about the spread of COVID-19 escalates the xenophobia and discrimination they face.
In many centers of this type, children live very close to other children, with limited access to personal hygiene, drinking water and other necessary services, which can favor the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID. 19. Also, access to basic medical care in these countries is low or absent, which further increases the risk to children's health when they become ill. Unfortunately, these children are already seeking urgent protection and placement outside their biological families or current place of residence, due to the immediate and high risk situation in which they find themselves. These children may be denied these services for fear of COVID-19, but at the same time, they are not offered any other alternative. Also, millions of refugee, migrant, or internally displaced children live in overcrowded camps, in informal reception centers, where preventive measures against COVID-19, such as frequent hand washing and social distancing, are almost impossible.
While COVID-19 pandemics are leading to the collapse of health systems in some of the affected countries, children can no longer be vaccinated and cannot receive the medical care they need to save lives. Thus, limited access to treatment during the Ebola 2014 - 2015 epidemic in West Africa has led to a drastic increase in deaths due to paludism, AIDS and tuberculosis, including many children.
To protect children's rights, governments are required to take urgent action, mainly :
•Prioritizing efforts to continue learning for all children with the help of available technologies;
•By providing financial assistance, including money, to low-income families who are hit hardest and hardest, in order to meet basic needs without forcing them to take their children to work or marry them;
•Minimizing child access to basic medical care;
•Increasing efforts to identify children who remain orphaned by pandemics and extending extensive family networks and host families;
•Expanding public education, awareness campaigns, emergency numbers and other services intended for children exposed to the risk of domestic violence or sexual exploitation;
•By transferring children deprived of liberty to a family setting and guaranteeing adequate housing for refugee, migrant and displaced children.
•A response to the COVID-19 crisis in respect of human rights will not only mitigate the damage from potentially strong impacts, but will also have a long-term benefit for children, society and all of humanity.
In general, these measures for children will improve their access to information and their organizational and expressive skills.
The COVID-19 economic crisis could prompt governments to strengthen guarantees of economic and social rights, as well as social protection against poor communities and vulnerable families. Such measures, in the long run, can improve food safety and reduce the poverty rate, juvenile work, and early child marriage.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted serious weaknesses in child protection in many countries, with deficient systems of medical care and social protection, with overcrowded reeducation sites and a lack of emergency plans to close large-scale schools. ".
Governments of all countries in coordination with the UN, WHO, health organizations and other agencies under their auspices, as well as international partners must work together to identify the best, most appropriate and most practical solutions, in order to providing immediate and long-term protection services for all children, regardless of their status, gender or origin.
Today, all stakeholders are required to develop long-term national and international strategies with SMART objectives and national concrete action plans, sustainable and transparent, for the benefit of the entire human society.
The Supreme Audit Institutions also play an important role in this situation, as watch dogs in the service of citizens for the protection and good administration of money and public property, in cooperation with the above-mentioned groups according to national and international agreements between them. With the guaranteed and indisputable authority they have, SAIs have the duty not only to audit the programs and expenditures envisaged in the national action plans, to assess their economy, efficiency, effectiveness, but also to recommend measures to promote a better governance.
In the current situation, in order to remove as much as possible the negative impact of COVID-19 on children, in our country, line ministries (MASR, MSHMS, MT, MB, MK, etc.) as well as institutions depending on them should :
•To draft legal and sub-legal acts of children's rights and protection, education and distance learning, as necessary forms of study at all levels and cycles of study, in cases of pandemics.
•Develop long-term national and international strategies, with concrete programs and expenditures provided for in national action plans, as well as international interactions and agreements on cases of pandemics.
•To take the necessary measures to guarantee the necessary capacities and infrastructure to enable the supervision of children and to remove the risk of their destruction by any illegal and harmful activity, in cooperation with the local government.
•Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and materials of social and cultural benefit to the child, with the aim of developing his or her full potential of personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities.
•Encourage the publication, dissemination and reading of children's books, through digitalisation supervised by parents and older adults.
•Encourage mass media, taking into account the language needs of children with disabilities, various vulnerable groups, the accuracy and objectivity of information.
•This unpredictable and sometimes unimaginable situation should raise the awareness of government institutions about the negative impact of COVID-19 on children, as well as their responsibility to minimize it.
In fulfilling its constitutional mission, as well as responding to the challenges and demands of the time, to improve performance and increase the impact of its activity, the Supreme State Audit, in the remaining strategic plans should expand the focus. audit, including audit programs on children's rights and protection in cases of pandemics.
The mission of SAIs around the world should be evaluated by various stakeholders who, based on the recommendations given in their audit reports, evaluate and guarantee the protection of children, which is rightly Nelson. Mandela called it "the biggest treasure of our future."
Source: Human Right Watch
1 Comments
Gud going and clearly written each step,to stay away from COVID-19
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