CHILD PROTECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CORONAVIRUS
OLATOSIMI KOLAWOLE. CHILD & YOUTH PROTECTION FOUNDATION
www.cypfnigeria.com 09069181765, 09075058399 Abuja
Twitter: @cypfoundation cypfoffice@gmail.com
COVID-19 can quickly change the context in which children live. Quarantine measures such as school closures and restrictions on movements disrupt children’s routine and social support while also placing new stressors on parents and caregivers who may have to find new childcare options or forgo work.
Stigma and discrimination related to COVID-19 may make children more vulnerable to violence and psychosocial distress
Child Protection Response
As we fight against the virus in the nation, we must ensure that we consider the well being of children and also their development and below are some of the responses:
Health
- Advocate for vulnerable children and their families’ free access to healthcare
- Advocate for clear and child-friendly intake and discharge procedures to promote family unity and reduce the risk of separation.
- Collaborate to ensure child-friendly health facilities/access to health care, including guidance for health staff on child-friendly communication and special measures to support children’s psychosocial well-being when undergoing treatment and quarantine.
- Support child safeguarding training for health workers (particularly where children are separated from their families or caregivers).
- Establish safe, child-friendly complaints and feedback mechanisms in health care facilities.
- Include measures to protect children during a COVID-19 outbreak in contingency plans.
- Ensure that information, education and communication (IEC) materials, including information on available services, are produced and displayed with limited text in child-friendly versions.
WASH
- Collaborate to ensure child-friendly hand-washing stations are available at health facilities, schools, child care centres, alternative care centres, and other locations children are likely to visit.
- Collaborate to provide safe, child-friendly hygiene promotion activities before and during outbreaks, including the development of posters and infographics targeting children, parents/caregivers and teachers.
Nutrition
- Ensure children and families in quarantine, self-isolation or health facilities have access to adequate nutritional support.
- Collaborate on safety audits to assess and address any safety needs at nutrition centres.
Education
- Limit the impact of school interruption by using child-friendly distant education methods such as TV, radio or online learning.
- Advocate with government and private employers for flexible working arrangement for parents and caregivers who may have lost access to childcare to enable them to continue care and education of their children.
- Work with schools to ensure that protection and safety messages are delivered to parents and children in a way that limits panic and distress, reassures, and encourages adherence to health messaging.
- Train teachers and other school staff on signs of distress to enable them to identify and refer children who may have specific child protection needs
- Support the development and roll-out of child-friendly complaints and feedback mechanisms in schools and other education facilities.
- Work with education actors to address stigma and social exclusion in schools.
Finally
In all that we do during this pandemic we must ensure the total protection of children and also do all we can to ensure that that development is not critical affected.
