According to the UN's latest policy brief on COVID-19 and children, "There are three main ways children are affected by this crisis: infection with the virus itself; immediate socioeconomic impacts of measures to stop transmission of the virus; and longer-term effects of delayed implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals." An estimated 1.5 billion children have lost precious weeks and months of educational progress. Millions of particularly vulnerable children – migrants and refugees, the poor, those vulnerable to violence and exploitation – are being exposed to even higher levels of risk.
UNICEF Innocenti is mobilizing a rapid research response in line with UNICEF’s global response to the COVID-19 crisis. The initiatives they’ve begun will provide the broad range of evidence needed to inform their work to scale up rapid assessment, develop urgent mitigating strategies in programming and advocacy, and preparation of interventions to respond to the medium and longer-term consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. The research projects cover a rapid review of evidence, education analysis, and social and economic policies.