Children: The Hidden Pandemic 2021 – A joint report of COVID-19- associated orphanhood and a strategy for action

Global Reference Group on Children Affected by COVID-19: Joint Estimates and Action

This report presents statistical data from 192 countries on children experiencing COVID-19-associated orphanhood and death of grandparent caregivers, a description of the trends in these data, a real-time COVID-19 Calculator for Death of Parents and Caregivers, and strategies and principles for integrating care for children bereaved by the virus into every nation’s COVID-19 response planning. This report includes data from March 1, 2020 through April 30, 2021, and provides the most extensive estimates yet on the current and projected number of children experiencing orphanhood and death of caregivers. The report is a collaboration between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Imperial College London, the World Health Organization, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, University of Oxford, Harvard University, University College London, and University of Cape Town.

This report reflects the contributions of technical experts from all core agencies contributing as co-authors to the linked report in the Lancet, Global minimum estimates of children affected by COVID-19-associated orphanhood and deaths of caregivers: a modelling study.

File