According to this article from CNN, there are "at least 577 Indian children who lost both parents to Covid between April 1 and May 25, when India was battling its second wave of the outbreak, according to government figures."

The plight of so-called "COVID orphans," children who've lost one or both parents to COVID-19, "is one of the heartbreaking pandemic developments to emerge from India, which in May recorded the greatest number of deaths in one country in one month from COVID 19: over 120,000," says this article from NPR.

In this video, "CNN's Vedika Sud speaks to the eldest sister-- now the primary caretaker of a family of seven siblings who lost their mother and then their father to the brutal second wave."

This article identifies risks and vulnerabilities that child monks can face, including sexual abuse. It reflects on how aspects of entrusting young children to live as child monks do not necessarily fit with principles articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNGA, 1989) and the United Nations Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (UNGA, 2009).

This article from BBC News described how the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated families across India, orphaning many children.

"The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has directed States and union territories to submit data of all children, who have been orphaned or have lost one of their parents to Covid-19," says this article from Big News Network.

This report examines the rise in child labor and poverty during the Covid-19 pandemic in three countries: Ghana, Nepal, and Uganda, the impact on children’s rights, and government responses.

According to this article from Bloomberg, "authorities [in India] are scrambling to get a count of how many children have been abandoned, either because their parents have been hospitalized or died or because the surviving parent isn’t able to care for them." Government officials and NGOs are concerned about trafficking risks for these children. 

Hope and Homes for Children is looking for an independent evaluator or team with a strong record in conducting evaluations as well as direct programme interventions to conduct an evaluation of a pilot project initiated to support catalytic change in care reform in Nepal.

"Social media posts appealing for adoption of children orphaned during COVID-19 are illegal, warn experts. They appeal that citizens must dial helpline 1098 to pass on information about children in need of care and protection," says this article from The Hindu.