Impact of COVID-19 on child poverty in Africa and beyond
COVID-19 pandemic is causing multidimensional crises of unprecedented scale. While children are largely spared from the public health impacts, various projections are showing that they’ll be hit hardest by the secondary impacts of the crisis and measures taken to contain it. The poorest and the most vulnerable will be disproportionately affected. At the global level, the outbreak might push up to 86 million additional children into poverty. By late April, more than 1.2 billion children and youth were already affected by school closures, and past crisis show that the poorest are less likely to return the longer they are out of school. Disruptions in routine health care services and limited access to food could lead to an additional 1.2 million under-five deaths in just six months.
How is the crisis unfolding in the African continent and how is it impacting the poorest children and their families? On May 14th, 2020, the Global Coalition to End Child Poverty brought together experts and communities to discuss lived experiences of children living in poverty; and the necessary policy responses to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on families. The webinar featured Dr. Martin Kalisa, Regional Director for Africa, Ms. Terry Kiarie, Cultural mediator for children – both from ATD Fourth World, Dr. Joan Nyanyuki, Executive Director of African Child Policy Forum, Prof. Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights as speakers; and was moderated by Mr. David Stewart, UNICEF’s Chief of Child Poverty and Social Protection and Co-chair of the Coalition. Below is a summary of the key discussions during the webinar.
Experiences of families and children
Many African countries were facing numerous challenges even before the pandemic: widespread poverty and inequality, limited access to healthcare and information, natural disasters such as flooding and drought, and diseases such as malaria. The COVID-19 crisis has further exacerbated these challenges. Poor families are not only the last to receive critical information about the outbreak and ways to protect them but are also more severely impacted by the preventive measures such as school and market closures, restriction in movements, and associated slowdown in economy, including in the informal economy on which the majority of families in poverty/vulnerable to poverty depend to survive.
In rural areas, many households have limited or no reserves of food due to lean season.
“Everyone thinks of food first because we are not sure what will happen tomorrow during this period. I don't know if you too are feeling hungry like me. I'm starting to be ashamed of welcoming people to my house because I have nothing to give them" said a mother in DRC about how she’s experiencing the crisis.
Many children, especially the poorest, are already missing out on learning due to lack of access to radio, television or digital technology, and facing increased risk of dropouts. “Closing schools could reduce our intelligence because we don't go to school anymore and we could forget our lessons” was noted by a child from the Central African Republic (CAR) . Children living in shelters or on the street are facing more difficulties than ever.
ATD Fourth World supports these children through direct outreach and engagement activities. In Kenya, community facilitators visit vulnerable families in the Kibera slum to identify the most isolated, share critical information on protecting themselves from the disease, and read and draw with the children to encourage continuity of their learning and share their messages of hope with other children. Similarly, in Senegal ATD teams support adolescents to stay resilient in the face of the crisis, study and stay on track by holding discussions and reflection sessions. It is essential to empower children in the fight against the virus. In Burundi, ATD made each child an ambassador by explaining the behaviors to adopt in times of pandemic and encourage them to share this knowledge around. In CAR, the team entrusted a group of young people to manage water sources with soap so they were the ones supporting their neighborhood.
These testimonies show that children and youth living in poverty are being harshly affected by the pandemic – and the need to prioritize them in responses. They need information, resources and access to services to stay healthy, protected, empowered throughout and after the crisis. Most importantly, COVID-19 prevention and mitigation measures must be taken in consultation with the communities, to ensure policies and actions reflect the reality on the ground, are equitable and effective.
Policy responses in Africa
The structural issues of poverty, inequality, complex humanitarian crises, weak health and social protection infrastructure have left many children in Africa at greater risk of coronavirus infection. The lockdown measures being taken to contain the outbreak, and limited access to government support and services could lead to increased levels of deprivation, social exclusion, abuse and exploitation. Existing policies and strategies were not adequate even before the crisis hit. As such, there is real danger of reversing progress made in poverty reduction and human development.
To address these challenges, governments, international organizations, civil societies and other actors need to develop and implement policies that are rights-based, inclusive, multidimensional, ensuring strong coordination and accountability throughout.
Lockdown and other measures must consider children’s needs and situations. To start, governments must put children’s needs first and protect them through scaling up social protection programmes such as cash transfers, and food assistance. Equally, they must ensure continuity of routine health services such as immunization and treatment for malaria. Regional bodies such as African Union or UN Economic Commission for Africa need to provide technical coordination, collaboration, resources mobilization support to governments. Non-governmental actors – from philanthropists, private sector to media, civil society – also have strong role to play in identifying and implementing practical solutions, providing information and knowledge to the public.
Global outlook
Risk of increased child mortality and morbidity due to strained health systems, malnutrition, and school dropouts are challenges that many countries in Africa are facing. While countries differ in their ability and capacity to take compensating measures, these challenges remain a global issue. For instance, in New York, some 750,000 poor children were at risk of losing their access to adequate nutrition if free meals provided by public schools stopped alongside school closures.
The global nature of this challenge calls for stronger social protection systems that are rights based and universal, as stipulated on the article nine of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and recommended by the International Labor Organization social protection floors. Two major barriers are preventing people from claiming their right to social protection. Firstly, 2 billion workers globally, and as much as 80% of the workers in African countries, are in informal jobs. Second barrier is non-take up of benefits, due to lack of documentation, literacy (including digital) needed to fill in the forms and other requirements. To address these barriers, governments and international organizations must work together with people in poverty to improve the design and implementation of social protection programmes, identify innovative and practical solutions that can work better and also strengthen accountability.
Reimagining a better future
The experience of families in Africa shows in real time the devastating impacts COVID-19 is having on children, particularly the poorest. While the pandemic has brought enormous challenges, it is also an opportunity to build back better and provide all children, especially the most vulnerable, equal chance of growing up healthy and protected, realizing their dreams and unleashing their potential. A future when children can grow up without having to take adults’ responsibilities, without losing the innocence of childhood.
We must take immediate and sustained actions so that future generations live in a world free from poverty and deprivations. By investing in building stronger, resilient and universal social protection systems that can help families prepare for, cope with and recover from shocks, from pandemic to climate change, we can turn this vision into reality.
Access the webinar recording here and the presentations.