While digital technologies have been increasingly employed in humanitarian crises for more than a decade, they are needed now more than ever due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Restrictions on travel, a switch to remote working and ‘social distancing’ have left international, national and local humanitarian staff unable to access affected communities, while logistics and humanitarian supply chains are disrupted. At the same time, needs continue to increase. There is now an urgent need for humanitarian…

This report provides a review of literature on the societal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as past health and economic shocks, and possible solutions for mitigating impact at individual, household and societal levels. The evidence base on the societal impacts of the pandemic is still nascent. For children, it is weaker still, largely due to the paucity of age-disaggregated data and the relatively low number of paediatric studies, particu-larly in low- and middle-income…

Humanitarian organizations have developed innovative and context specific interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as guidance has been normative in nature and most are not humanitarian specific. In April 2020, three universities developed a COVID-19 humanitarian-specific website (www.covid19humanitarian.com) to allow humanitarians from the field to upload their experiences or be interviewed by academics to share their creative responses adapted to their specific country challenges in a standardised manner. These field experiences are reviewed by…

COVID-19 is a children’s crisis. In the early months of the pandemic, children constituted a low proportion of the population infected. However, as the virus has spread, the number of children and young people who become infected and develop COVID-19 is also increasing and requires specific actions. While our understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on children through science, data and research is evolving rapidly, we have more insight as the pandemic approaches its first…

This global report is a consolidation of six regional reports based on consultations conducted between April and August 2020 that used a qualitative approach. Listening to children is at the heart of World Vision’s child-centred approach and our commitment to amplifying the voices of children and young people on the world stage. The consultation included individual interviews and focus group discussions with 763 children and young people (403 girls, 334 boys and 26 gender not…

Part I of this brief discussed the barriers refugee girls face to continuing their education in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The barriers fall into three main categories: financial issues, gendered norms about the value of educating girls, and outright gender-based and sexual violence. Part II focuses on solutions, not only to overcome these barriers in the short-term, but to create greater gender equity in refugee education in the long-term. Based on…

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken 1.6 billion students out of classrooms around the globe. Although students everywhere are struggling to access education during the pandemic, the problem is especially exacerbated for girls. Girls in lower-income countries face unique challenges both in getting to school and in staying enrolled. These challenges include everything from lack of funding, to sexist norms about girls’ education, to outright gender-based violence. And it is even worse for refugee girls. Refugee…

This briefing argues that, if a leveraged focus on SDG 16 was necessary before COVID-19, it is imperative now – not just insalvaging the 2030 Agenda in the places where it matters most, but also in damping down the potential for far greater and more durable violent conflict.   Download

This briefing note is an update to ODI’s research on the role of international public finance in eradicating poverty around the world – Goal 1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is perhaps more critical now than ever before in the context of the global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19): the longer-term effects on the world’s poorest are becoming increasingly clear. Drawing mainly on recent World Bank estimates, the projections in…

Digital information technologies and social media platforms have become important means of communication used by UNICEF and its partners. The physical distancing requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic have further strengthened reliance on mass media, social media and mobile technology as a way of reaching and engaging with intended audiences. Even where access to digital resources remains limited, country programmes are launching innovative approaches to continue social and behaviour change activities despite the physical distancing challenge,…