ReliefWeb

Highlights

UNICEF works for children and adolescents in 22 countries and territories1 in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region. UNICEF is also present in Italy supporting Refugee and Migrant populations.

• All countries except Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have reported cases of COVID-19; eight have declared state emergencies; school closures affect 19 of 22 countries. Affected children include 680,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey.

• Among the refugee and migrant community living in open reception centres, Greece has reported 25 people, including 3 children, who have tested positive for COVID-192 . A first case has also appeared in a Roma settlement in Podgorica, Montenegro.

• While life-saving supplies are starting to arrive, global shortages and restricted air shipments mean painful delays for countries desperately needing personal protective equipment (PPEs), diagnostic tests and medical equipment such as ventilators.

• Prolonged suspension of work is affecting low income families the hardest, and UNICEF is partnering with UN agencies, the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and others around innovative models to launch humanitarian cash transfers designed to sustain the poorest families during and beyond the emergency. In Tajikistan for example, UNICEF’s experience in humanitarian cash transfer modelling will help inform the implementation of a World Bank $11.3 million financing.

• With families forced to spend more time together in confined spaces, there is a worrying surge in domestic abuse cases. UNICEF is implementing preventive measures such as positive parenting support via digital/social media channels, direct phone lines for counselling support, and deploying mobile teams in extreme situations.

• Families in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo* Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan are among the early adopters of UNICEF’s freshly launched 15-day #LearningAtHome challenge, that is being widely promoted on social media. The challenge presents play-based activities to help parents keep children busy learning, while positively strengthening family connections.