The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has warned against what it terms, “A lost generation’, as COVID-19 threatens to cause irreversible harm to children’s education, nutrition and well-being.
The warning was contained in a new report issued by UNICEF ahead of World Children’s Day on November 20, of the significant and growing consequences for children as the COVID-19 pandemic lurches toward a second year.
The report tittled, “Averting a Lost COVID Generation”, is the first UNICEF report to comprehensively outline the dire and growing consequences for children as the pandemic drags on.
It shows that while symptoms among infected children remain mild, infections are rising and the longer-term impact on the education, nutrition and well-being of an entire generation of children and young people can be life-altering.
UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins,
noted that since the pandemic started, there has been a false belief that children are not affected by COVID-19, adding that nothing can be further from the truth.
Mr Hawkins further observed that while children are less likely to have severe symptoms of illness, they can be infected, pointing out that the biggest impact by far is the disruptions to key services and increasing poverty rates, which are both having a huge impact on Nigerian children’s education, health, nutrition and well-being.
He cautioned that the future of an entire generation is at risk globally and in Nigeria.
The report noted that while children can transmit the virus to each other and to older age groups, there is strong evidence that, with basic safety measures in place, the net benefits of keeping schools open outweigh the costs of closing them.
Schools are not a main driver of community transmission, and children are more likely to get the virus outside of school settings.
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