The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Education replaced by violence and teenage pregnancy as COVID-19 forces school closures
“Education, safety, friends and food have been replaced by anxiety, violence, and teenage pregnancy,” the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Tuesday.
Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, “more than 600 million children in countries not on academic break are still affected by school closures”, said James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson, at a press conference at UN Geneva.
In countries such as Uganda, this has led to a “20 per cent spike in the last 15 months in teen pregnancies, or pregnancies of 10-24-year-old girls who were seeking antenatal care. Across the globe in all continents we’ve seen child helplines, a good precursor to understanding kids who are reporting violence, seeing often triple-digit increases.”
In nearly half of countries in Asia and the Pacific, schools have been closed for around 200 days. Latin America and the Caribbean have seen some of the longest closures ever with 18 countries and territories affected by either full or partial closures. As of today, the UN agency estimates in Eastern and Southern Africa that 40 per cent of all children aged five to 18 are currently out of school.
Mr. Elder added that if these figures “did not resonate with those in power”, then perhaps a World Bank report would, as it forecast a loss of $10 trillion in earnings over time for this generation of students.
Equally alarming is the fact that the solution of remote learning is “simply out of reach” for at least a third of the world’s schoolchildren, the UNICEF spokesperson continued.
In East Asia and the Pacific, “80 million children have no access whatsoever to any remote learning. In Eastern and Southern Africa, Uganda schoolchildren have passed over 300 days out of school. Home internet connectivity is the lowest on the planet there at about 0.3 per cent.”
In a call for action, UNICEF appealed for five main steps: schools should reopen as soon as possible, governments and donors must protect the education budget, enrolment should be extended to children who were already out of school pre‑COVID‑19 by removing financial barriers and loosening registration requirements and cash transfers to the most vulnerable must be increased.
“Everything needs to be done to bring an end to the pandemic,” Mr. Elder said, starting with making vaccines available everywhere by sharing excess doses and financing to support the roll-out of vaccines.
ends
STORY: Impact of COVID-19 on education
TRT: 02:55
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 27.07 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1: Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
2: Wide shot, journalists listening to press room briefing
3: SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) James Elder, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson: “Education, safety, friends and food have been replaced by anxiety, violence, and teenage pregnancy. If we look at one country, Uganda, we’ve seen a 20% spike in the last 15 months in teen pregnancies or pregnancies of 10-24-year-old girls who were seeking antenatal care. Across the globe in all continents, we’ve seen child helplines, a good precursor to understanding kids who are reporting violence, seeing often triple-digit increases.
4: Mid shot, journalists at press room briefing
5: SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) James Elder, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson: “More than 600 million children who aren’t on academic break remain affected by school closures. In Asia and the Pacific: in nearly half the countries, schools have been closed for about 200 days there. Amid some of the longest closures ever seen in Latin America and the Caribbean, still, 18 countries are affected by either full or partial closures. And as of today, our most recent estimates in Eastern and Southern Africa are that 40 per cent, 4 in 10 of all children 5 to 18 are currently out of school.
6: Mid shot journalist writing during press room briefing
7: SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) James Elder, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson: “At least a third of the world’s schoolchildren, remote learning is just not an option. We’re not talking about too much time for children on screen, they dont have access to screens. Again in East Asia and the Pacific, 80 million children have no access whatsoever to any remote learning. If you go back to Eastern and Southern Africa, Uganda, children there have passed to 300 days out of school. Home internet connectivity the lowest on the planet, is about 0.3%.
8: Journalist at press room briefing
9: SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) James Elder, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson: “Beyond those clear numbers of replacing education and learning with voice and teen pregnancy, if that doesn’t resonate with those in power, then the World Bank does have a report showing around, their estimate is about a 10 trillion dollar loss in earnings for this current cohort of students over time.
10: Journalist at press room briefing
11: SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) James Elder, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson: “Schools need to open as soon as possible. Reopening schools cannot wait for all teachers and students to be vaccinated. Governments at a time of great fiscal stress need to protect those education budgets. We need to find new ways to try and get those children who were never in schools to get them back in amid COVID. You know remove financial barriers loosen registration requirements. Forth, cash transfers, they work.
12: Various of pressroom briefing.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence & Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Sudan’s displaced have endured “unimaginable suffering” in their search for shelter from the country’s ongoing war, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘Exceptional achievement’: Humanitarians reach over 105,000 with polio vaccine in north Gaza
Despite ongoing attacks and access challenges, humanitarians have managed to inoculate over 105,000 children in north Gaza with the second and final dose of the oral polio vaccine, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.