Infectious diseases like COVID-19 can disrupt the protective environments in which children grow and develop. Disruptions to families, friendships, daily routines and the wider community can have negative consequences for children’s well-being, development and protection. COVID-19 also has a direct impact on the ability of child protection actors to engage with communities, as well as on the ability of communities to self-protect and support each other. Learning from past infectious disease outbreaks has taught us that community members act to protect children from the onset of the crisis, and are best placed to identify both child protection and COVID-19 related risks and respond effectively and appropriately.
This guidance aims at supporting child protection actors working with communities to keep children safe to adapt their programming to the contagious environment of COVID-19. It builds upon Standard 17 in the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and includes key actions and hyperlinks to additional resources, links and tips aimed at:
- Understanding how communities organize themselves to protect children in times of COVID-19
- Working with communities to implement safe and effective ways to protect children in times of COVID-19
- The health, safety and wellbeing of community members.
This technical note is an annex of the Technical Note: Protection of Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The webinars related to this series of technical notes can be found here.
The guidance can also be found here.
