UNICEF
Keep schools open to avert learning catastrophe: UNICEF
UNICEF has urged governments across the world to keep schools open to avert a learning catastrophe.
“As the Omicron variant of Covid-19 continues its spread all over the world, we urge governments to do everything in their power to keep it from further disrupting children’s education,” it said.
“To avert a learning catastrophe and put children back on the learning track, UNICEF recommends to keep schools open,” the UN agency said in a release on Saturday.
“Keep schools open. An estimated 616 million children are currently affected by full or partial school closures. We know that mitigation measures help keep schools open. We also know that investments in digital connectivity can help us make sure that no child is left behind.
"We need bold action to enable every child to return to school. This includes providing comprehensive support with a particular focus on marginalized children in each community, such as catch-up classes, mental health and nutrition support, protection and other key services,” it added.
Also read: Covid surge in Bangladesh: All educational institutions to remain shut till Feb 6
The UN agency also urged governments to ensure vaccination of all teachers and school staff immediately. "Teachers and school personnel should be fully supported and prioritised to receive Covid-19 vaccines, once frontline health personnel and high-risk populations are vaccinated."
Also read: Writ seeks 30-day closure of educational institutions as pandemic surges
Three conversations with Abed bhai - 1
Abed bhai –Fazle Hasan Abed – and I go back to 1986 when the informal-formal education debate had become important in the development world. I was then with Unicef and Bangladesh was getting into the initiative in a big way. However, there was a big debate on the issue and many were opposed to informal education.
This came most from those who sought validation in the official system and anything that was not governmental was considered less.
Although in the 1971 liberation war, it’s the informal sector –common people – who played a very significant role, if not the most significant, they are erased from official and academic historical narratives. Our denial of the informal is rooted in the “invader as savior” mentality whereupon we have looked to the raja/sharakar bahadur as the primary source of legitimacy.
READ: Sir Fazle Hasan Abed honoured with Dutch Knighthood
Thus the debate between the formal and the informal is often about the political imagination of power. Does it belong to the people or the amlas. This includes the education sector. Within Unicef also, most supported the GOB. I was one of the few who supported the informal space. My experience of 1971 was a major factor I presume.
The China conversation
In 1989, a team went from Bangladesh to China to a major UN conference on education. Cole Dodge of Unicef, Abed bhai of BRAC and several others including myself were there. When Abed bhai made his presentation on informal education, it was met with some skepticism as too ambitious. But to me it was obvious that a bigger battle was on about the role and nature of the state and society.
As we visited the villages of Guangzhou, it became obvious that these villages had much greater freedom than people outside China would think. In fact, the official China seemed quite absent here. This included not only multi-child families which Beijing had officially banned but even ancestral worship. Large urns carrying ashes of the dead were in earthen holes poking out of mountain earth.
Abed bhai asked me on the bus back what I thought of it all.
“They have managed to mobilize people without interfering too much with their lives," was my response.
He smiled and said,”They have not imposed the formal system on the villages. They have kept the doors open. And that has worked. “
READ: Sir Fazle Hasan Abed honoured in Singapore Diaspora Convention
He was capturing the wisdom learnt from his own experience. As a freedom fighter he had organized the blowing up of the Karachi port using mercenaries in 1971 but at the request of PM Tajuddin Ahmed donated the money to the Mujibnagar government fund as it was more needed. The 1971 Government was itself an excellent example of mixing the formal and the informal.
Abed bhai understood that lesson in the 70s also when the ORS campaign became such a success. Later the informal education programme also worked and was ultimately undertaken by the GOB itself. It shows that it’s this alliance between the two socio- cultural spaces that makes things work best.
Covid-19 pandemic swells number of hungry by more than 50 mn in Asia-Pacific: FAO-UNICEF Report
The state of food security and nutrition in Asia and the Pacific has worsened, as more than 375 million people in the Asia-Pacific region faced hunger in 2020, an increase of 54 million over the previous year, according to a joint report just published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday in Bangkok.
While hunger has increased, so too has inadequate access to nutritious foods, the report said.
According to the 2021 Asia and the Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, in this region alone, more than one billion people did not have access to adequate food in 2020 – an increase of almost 150 million people in just one year.
The high cost of a healthy diet, and persistently high levels of poverty and income inequality, continue to hold healthy diets out of reach for 1.8 billion people in the Asia and Pacific region.
Read: Children in the Pandemic: Consortium predicts 168,000 to die hungry during crisis
In recent years, progress has stalled in reducing the number of undernourished, and the prevalence of certain nutritional indicators, such as stunting in children under five years of age, was already much too high, as reported last year.
Since then, the situation has worsened. While it is not yet possible to fully quantify the damage done to food security and nutrition by COVID-19, the pandemic has had a serious impact on the region. Even countries that initially reported a limited number of COVID-19 cases experienced the negative effects of the containment measures, combined with people’s health concerns, that led to a major contraction of economic activity in this region and worldwide. Disruption in food supply chains only added to the problems.
The situation could have been worse without the response of governments and the impressive social protection measures they put in place during the crisis. In building back better food environments, future agri-food systems will have to provide better production, better nutrition, a better environment and better lives.
Read: Millions of hungry Americans turn to food banks for 1st time
To do that, FAO and UNICEF state the focus must revolve around meeting the needs of small-scale, family farmers and indigenous people in the region. Food systems must also prioritize the dietary needs of vulnerable groups, including young children and women.
Commitments have been made to ensure recovery and there are opportunities to begin the hard work of advancing food security and nutrition through transforming agri-food systems such as the United Nations Food Systems Summit, the Nutrition for Growth Summit and the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Implementing these commitments will be needed to meet the second Sustainable Development Goal, SDG2, to eradicate food insecurity and malnutrition.
Investment in S Asia’s children vital to prevent devastating impacts of COVID-19: UNICEF
Governments across South Asia need to urgently expand investments in basic health, education, and protection services for the millions of children and their families whose lives have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters, says a new UNICEF report released on the agency’s 75th anniversary.
The report, “Reigniting Opportunities for Children in South Asia,” highlighted the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on the most marginalized of the region’s 600 million children.
The report says that unless rollbacks in critical health, immunization, nutrition, protection and education services are reversed, the worst consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will persist for decades.
The report notes that humanitarian disasters and climate-related hazards such as droughts, floods and air pollution have furthered exacerbated the situation for children.
Read: Nearly 240 mn children with disabilities around world: UNICEF
Prior to the pandemic, South Asia was one of the fastest-growing regions in the world, with a large youth population poised to further accelerate growth and significant progress being made for children.
Child mortality rates more than halved in the past quarter century, while the number of children suffering from stunting fell by more than a third since 2000. Secondary school enrolment rose steadily, and the number of girls getting married before age 18 fell.
Over 90 per cent of the population has access to safe drinking water.
“The remarkable achievements our region has made in advancing child rights over recent decades are now at risk,” said George Laryea-Adjei, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia.
“If we fail to act, the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt for decades to come. But by acting now, we can reignite opportunities and ensure every child in South Asia not only survives but thrives.”
The report identifies immediate priorities, such as fully restoring basic health and immunization services and helping students catch up on the learning they have missed. But it also outlines the lessons learned and the opportunities that have been opened up by the pandemic which can now be leveraged into gains for all children.
They include public health systems that have been strengthened through infrastructure introduced to better respond to COVID-19 – such as improved cold chain and oxygen infrastructure.
Other opportunities include increased public conversations around mental health which are helping to spotlight needs and drive demand for more services, and increased recognition of the region’s deep digital divide and opportunities to bridge it.
While making urgent investments to reverse rollbacks in progress for children, the region also needs to be prepared for future waves of the pandemic, UNICEF said.
Read: Covid-19 puts future of 37 mn children in Bangladesh at risk: UNICEF, UNESCO
“Just 30 per cent of South Asia is fully vaccinated, leaving families dangerously unprotected as new variants continue to emerge,” George Laryea-Adjei said. “Governments around the world must ensure fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. The pandemic will not be over for anyone until it is over for everyone.”
The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on children was reiterated in a youth statement entitled “Our Future, Our Rights, Our Voices,” the outcome of extensive virtual consultations involving nearly 500 young people from the 8 South Asian countries.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made our situation much worse. Our schools have been closed, often for months at a time. Many of us may never return to school,” said the statement, which was shared with UNICEF, the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and senior government officials. “With your action, we can transform the lives of young people in South Asia.”
The report outlines the key actions needed to reverse the rollbacks in progress for children, and begin building a better future for every child in South Asia, among them:
Expanding investment in child-sensitive social protection programmes, especially for the most vulnerable children and their families, resuming in-person learning in schools while addressing learning losses, bridging the region’s digital divide and improving the quality of education for every child, stronger integrated national health and nutrition systems that protect children from deadly but treatable diseases and reverse the region’s child nutrition crisis, protecting children from neglect and abuse and the promotion of the mental health of all children and young people, urgent action to protect children from climate change through increased investment in climate adaptation and resilience in key services for children.
In 2020, disruptions linked to COVID-19 led to an estimated 228,000 additional child deaths, while an estimated 5.3 million children missed out on vital vaccinations, nearly 1.9 million more than the previous year. An additional 3.85 million children are thought to have suffered from wasting in 2020.
School closures lasted longer than in almost any other region. Over 400 million children and their teachers were forced to transition to remote learning in a region with low connectivity and device affordability, leading to alarming inequities in learning opportunities. Poorer children in remote areas, girls and students with disabilities were disproportionately affected.
“Today’s crises present a unique opportunity to build strong and adaptable health, education and protection systems that meet the needs of all children,” said George Laryea-Adjei. “UNICEF will continue to work closely with governments in South Asia, as well as businesses, civil society, and children themselves, to make sure that no child is left behind.”
Students may lose around $17 trillion in lifetime earnings for Covid learning loss: Report
Students now risks losing $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or about 14 percent of today’s global GDP, as a result of COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures, according to a new report published today by the World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF.
The new projection reveals that the impact is more severe than previously thought, and far exceeds the $10 trillion estimates released in 2020.
In addition, The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery report shows that in low- and middle-income countries, the share of children living in Learning Poverty – already 53 percent before the pandemic – could potentially reach 70 percent given the long school closures and the ineffectiveness of remote learning to ensure full learning continuity during school closures.
Read: Project launched to help children overcome COVID-19 learning loss
“The COVID-19 crisis brought education systems across the world to a halt,” said Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Global Director for Education. “Now, 21 months later, schools remain closed for millions of children, and others may never return to school. The loss of learning that many children are experiencing is morally unacceptable. And the potential increase of Learning Poverty might have a devastating impact on future productivity, earnings, and well-being for this generation of children and youth, their families, and the world’s economies.”
Simulations estimating that school closures resulted in significant learning losses are now being corroborated by real data.
For example, regional evidence from Brazil, Pakistan, rural India, South Africa, and Mexico, among others, show substantial losses in math and reading.
Analysis shows that in some countries, on average, learning losses are roughly proportional to the length of the closures.
However, there was great heterogeneity across countries and by subject, students’ socioeconomic status, gender, and grade level.
For example, results from two states in Mexico show significant learning losses in reading and in math for students aged 10-15. The estimated learning losses were greater in math than reading, and affected younger learners, students from low-income backgrounds, as well as girls disproportionately.
Barring a few exceptions, the general trends from emerging evidence around the world align with the findings from Mexico, suggesting that the crisis has exacerbated inequities in education
“The COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools across the world, disrupting education for 1.6 billion students at its peak, and exacerbated the gender divide. In some countries, we’re seeing greater learning losses among girls and an increase in their risk of facing child labor, gender-based violence, early marriage, and pregnancy. To stem the scars on this generation, we must reopen schools and keep them open, target outreach to return learners to school, and accelerate learning recovery," said UNICEF Director of Education Robert Jenkins.
Read:Hasina urges UNESCO to declare online and remote learning as public good
The report highlights that, to date, less than 3 percent of governments’ stimulus packages have been allocated to education. Much more funding will be needed for immediate learning recovery.
The report also notes that while nearly every country in the world offered remote learning opportunities for students, the quality and reach of such initiatives differed – in most cases, they offered, at best, a rather partial substitute for in-person instruction.
More than 200 million learners live in low- and lower middle-income countries that are unprepared to deploy remote learning during emergency school closures.
Investing in girls education an absolute game changer: Helen Grant
British Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Girls’ Education Helen Grant has laid emphasis on investing in girls’ education which she thinks an “absolute game changer” and ensures a safer, fairer and better world for the girls giving them greater say over their futures.
“Investing in girls’ education is an absolute game changer,” she said, adding that girls’ education is a key priority for the UK government.
Helen Grant, who was appointed in January 2021 as the British Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Girls’ Education, made the remarks before wrapping up her recent visit to Bangladesh.
Read: British PM’s Special Envoy Helen Grant in city to meet girls
While talking to a small group of reporters at the residence of British High Commissioner Robert Chatterton Dickson, Helen listed poverty, climate change; gender based violence, early pregnancy and forced marriage as some of the barriers that need to be addressed through joint efforts.
As girls remain at greater risk of violence, sexual abuse, child marriage due to out of schools, she said investing in girls is very important.
Young people are more likely than older ones to be aware of climate change: Survey
Younger people in Bangladesh are substantially more likely than older people to be aware of climate change, says a new international survey by UNICEF and Gallup released on Thursday ahead of World Children’s Day.
Over 90 per cent of the Bangladeshi children and youth who were aware of the issue also agree on the need for their government to act boldly now.
The findings come from the poll The Changing Childhood Project, the first of its kind to ask multiple generations for their views on the world and what it is like to be a child today.
The poll surveyed more than 21,000 people across two age cohorts (15-24 years old and 40 years old and up) in 21 countries, across all regions and income levels, including Bangladesh.
The survey shows that children and young people are nearly 50 per cent more likely than older people to believe that the world is becoming a better place with each generation, and that childhood has improved, with overwhelming majorities believing that healthcare, education, and physical safety are better for today's children than for their parents' generation.
Yet, despite their optimism, young people are far from naïve, expressing restlessness for action on climate change, skepticism about information they consume on social media, and struggling with feelings of depression and anxiety.
Read: Nearly 240 mn children with disabilities around world: UNICEF
They are far more likely than older people to see themselves as global citizens, and more likely to embrace international cooperation to tackle threats like the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is no shortage of reasons for pessimism in the world today: Climate change, the pandemic, poverty and inequality, rising distrust, and growing nationalism. But here is a reason for optimism: Children and young people refuse to see the world through the bleak lens of adults,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
“Compared to older generations, the world’s young people remain hopeful, much more globally minded, and determined to make the world a better place. Today’s young people have concerns for the future but see themselves as part of the solution.”
“The voices of Bangladeshi young people on climate action are loud and clear. Young people in Bangladesh are aware of the consequences of climate change, and are more adamant than ever that more needs to be done,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh.
“Their views on the world might differ on some aspects from their peers’ in other countries, but their vision is the same: the need to act now for a better future.”
Inclusive politics essential for every country’s prosperity: British Minister
UK’s Minister for South Asia Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon on Monday expressed optimism that the citizens of Bangladesh will have an open and vigorous debate about the country’s direction as Bangladesh approaches its next election period.
“Inclusive politics are essential for every country’s prosperity, something that the Father of the Nation (Bangabandhu) Sheikh Mujibur Rahman knew very well,” he said, adding that the constitution (Bangladesh) emphasizes both transparency and due process which is a real guiding right to everyone.
The British Minister said Bangladesh, on Bangabandhu’s legacy, has built something quite remarkable and there is an opportunity for this great nation to go even further.
He made the remarks while delivering keynote speech at a programme titled “Bangladesh-UK: Partners in Progress' with Foreign Secretary (Senior Secretary) Masud Bin Momen as the chair. The event was held at the Foreign Service Academy.
Lord Ahmad, also the Minister for the United Nations and the Commonwealth at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), said as a steadfast friend and partner of Bangladesh they value this unique relationship and friendship.
“Our message is simple - to all of you from all of us. I assure we’re partners for today and for the future. As close and honest friends, we look forward to further strengthening this unique partnership,” he said.
Read:'Bangladesh a compelling case for UK investors'
Nearly 240 mn children with disabilities around world: UNICEF
The number of children with disabilities globally is estimated at almost 240 million, according to a new UNICEF report.
Children with disabilities are disadvantaged compared to children without disabilities on most measures of child well-being, the report says on Wednesday.
Read: Covid-19 puts future of 37 mn children in Bangladesh at risk: UNICEF, UNESCO
“This new research confirms what we already knew: Children with disabilities face multiple and often compounding challenges in realizing their rights,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
“From access to education, to being read to at home; children with disabilities are less likely to be included or heard on almost every measure. All too often, children with disabilities are simply being left behind.”
The report includes internationally comparable data from 42 countries and covers more than 60 indicators of child well-being – from nutrition and health, to access to water and sanitation, protection from violence and exploitation, and education.
These indicators are disaggregated by functional difficulty type and severity, child’s sex, economic status, and country.
The report makes clear the barriers children with disabilities face to participating fully in their societies and how this often translates to negative health and social outcomes.
Read: Covid-19 put future of 800 mn children across Asia at risk: UNICEF, UNESCO
“Inclusive education cannot be considered a luxury. For far too long, children with disabilities have been excluded from society in a way that no child ever should be. My lived experience as a woman with disabilities supports that statement,” says Maria Alexandrova, 20, a UNICEF youth advocate for inclusive education from Bulgaria.
“No child, especially the most vulnerable, should have to fight for their basic human rights alone. We need governments, stakeholders and NGOs to ensure children with disabilities have equal, inclusive access to education.”
'Address climate change as child rights issue'
Bangladeshi children have urged the country's leaders to address the climate change crisis urgently as a child rights issue and demanded they be involved more in finding solutions to the issue, ahead of the global COP26 meet in Glasgow.
The children’s calls were captured in the Bangladeshi Children’s Climate Declaration that a group of children handed over to Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shahab Uddin, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and other leaders at an event in Parliament on Wednesday.
The children’s message to the government’s official COP26 delegation was clear: “Bring our appeal with you when you travel to Glasgow. Climate change is a child rights issue.”
Read:Extinct dinosaur lectures world leaders about climate change
The declaration was prepared in November 2020 at the first-ever Children’s Climate Summit by engaging over one million Bangladeshi children involved with the UNICEF-supported Generation Parliament initiative by Bangladesh Debate Federation (BDF).
The Bangladeshi Children’s Climate Declaration calls on the government to protect children against the impacts of climate change, reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, increase investments in education, training and a green economy, and consult children on policies and decisions that impact their future.
“Climate change is threatening our survival, well-being and future. We are asking you to stand up for the children of this country and do more to fight climate change,” said 13-year-old Kaba Kaushin Arisha, who handed over the declaration on behalf of the children who participated in the 2020 Summit.
“Unless we act now and we act together, we will reach a point of no return. This is our call to you, and to COP26.”
Dr. Shirin Sharmin thanked the over one million children who united behind this Declaration, and UNICEF for bringing them – children and decision-makers – together. "It is only by listening to our children that we can shape a better future for all,” she said.
The government of Bangladesh is committed to upholding the rights of children and addressing climate change as a child rights issue.
"We will continue working -- with and for children -- for a better, safer, greener Bangladesh,” said Shahab Uddin, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, who is part of the official Bangladesh delegation to COP26.
Although Bangladesh is among the lowest per-capita greenhouse gas emitting countries in the world (bottom 20 percent), it is one of the countries that is most affected by climate change.
UNICEF’s first-ever Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI 2021) found that children in Bangladesh are among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change.
The Index ranked Bangladesh as the 15th country globally in terms of climate change risks and impacts on children.
UNICEF estimates that one in three children in Bangladesh, nearly 20 million children, bear the brunt of climate change every day.
Read: EU lauds Bangladesh’s leadership on climate front
Children are victims of extreme weather, floods, river erosion, sea level rise, and other environmental shocks driven by climate change.
Many end up adrift in city slums, their lives and prospects shattered. Millions of children are trapped in exploitive child labour, child marriage and trafficking.
“Children in Bangladesh are not responsible for the climate crisis, yet they face its most severe impacts, paying the highest price,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh.
"UNICEF stands with children in Bangladesh in their appeal for intergenerational solidarity. The needs of children must be at the centre of the climate change response.”