"Children in countries with slow and expensive internet services are severely disadvantaged."
UNITED NATIONS, April 16 (Xinhua) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday made a strong appeal to world leaders, calling on them to protect children and safeguard their well-being while the COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the whole world and upending children's lives.
"With the pandemic placing so many of the world's children in jeopardy, I reiterate my urgent appeal: let us protect our children and safeguard their well-being," the UN chief said at the virtual launch of a UN policy brief which looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and highlights the risks they face.
While noting that children have so far been "largely spared" from the most severe symptoms of the disease, the UN chief said "their lives are being totally upended."
Guterres elaborated his concerns for children across the world.
Homeless children wash their hands using the Tippy-Tap hand-washing techniques outside temporary tents in Windhoek, Namibia, April 14, 2020. The Tippy-Tap is a common practice in informal settlements where people do not have access to running water. The technique is strongly advised as an attempt to assist the Namibian government with its lockdown efforts in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. [Xinhua/Jacobina Mouton]
On education, the UN chief said, "Almost all students are now out of school. Some schools are offering distance learning, but this is not available to all."
"Children in countries with slow and expensive internet services are severely disadvantaged," he said.
Speaking of food, he said that "a staggering 310 million schoolchildren -- nearly half of the world's total -- rely on school for a regular source of daily nutrition."
"Even before COVID-19, the world faced unacceptable rates of childhood malnutrition and stunting," he said.
Palestinian Karate instructor Khaled Sheikh Al-Eid (C), trains with his children all wearing face masks due to the COVID-19, on their house roof, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on April 12, 2020. [Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua]
As for children's safety, the secretary-general said that "with children out of school, their communities in lockdown and a global recession biting deeper, family stress levels are rising."
"Children are both victims and witnesses of domestic violence and abuse. With schools closed, an important early warning mechanism is missing," he said. "There is also a danger that girls will drop out of school, leading to an increase in teenage pregnancies."
"We must not ignore the growing risks children are facing from online violence, abuse and exploitation. Social media companies have a special responsibility to protect the vulnerable," the UN chief noted.
Speaking of the threat to children's health, Guterres said that "reduced household income will force poor families to cut back on essential health and food expenditures, particularly affecting children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers."
Children participate in online learning as a part of study from home during the COVID-19 outbreak in Pamekasan, East Java, Indonesia, April 11, 2020. [Photo by Kurniawan/Xinhua]
"Polio vaccination campaigns have been suspended. Measles immunization campaigns have stopped in at least 23 countries. And as health services become overwhelmed, sick children are less able to access care," Guterres said.
"With the global recession gathering pace, there could be hundreds of thousands of additional child deaths in 2020," the secretary-general warned.
"What started as a public health emergency has snowballed into a formidable test for the global promise to leave no one behind," he said.
"We must act now on each of these threats to our children," the UN chief noted. "Leaders must do everything in their power to cushion the impact of the pandemic."
(Source: Xinhua)