Aller au contenu principal

Covid-19 crisis response rapid assessment report May 2020

Pays
Monde
+ 10
Sources
Street Child
Date de publication
Origine
Voir l'original

Over the last few weeks Street Child, in collaboration with over 50 national partners, has conducted a rapid assessment of needs and gaps in provision for the poorest, most marginalised populations. In one of the largest global assessments of the COVID-19 crisis to date - our global report represents the perspectives of more than 12,000 respondents and illustrates the impact the pandemic is having on learning, livelihoods and lives.

At the outset, the report reveals positive progress on awareness: Over 95% all respondents are aware of COVID-19 and at least 90% report taking action to prevent and prepare for the pandemic - much of which was attributed to mass messaging campaigns from government and non-government actors. However, whilst almost all respondents report at least an attempt at action, there are alarming gaps in the adoption of critical strategies, such as avoiding crowded areas, avoiding contact, and increasing hand washing and hygiene.

The range of these gaps has important implications. In the first instance, it demands efforts to ensure that important information is both available and accessible to vulnerable populations - it is imperative that information is understood if it is to be useful. In the second instance, it demands an enormous escalation of efforts to ensure an enabling environment for prevention and preparedness: for example, the poorest and most marginalised populations must be provided with soap, sanitiser and safe, sufficient sources of water to adopt hand washing and hygiene strategies. Provision must be supplemented with support for local level solutions to increase social distancing and safe social interaction; for example, working with local interlocutors to put in place and promote rotational routines in markets.

The rapid assessment reinforces the changing circumstances of the COVID-19 crisis are creating a complex interaction of vulnerabilities. Children are at the centre of this crisis. Even as almost 90% of children are out of school around the globe, our global report illustrates that 1 in 2 children have no access to alternative learning opportunities: no internet, no radio, no television results in no learning at a time when learning is life-saving and life-sustaining. 96% of respondents raised serious concerns about the protection risks that arise as the closure of schools interacts with increasing costs and income loss. An increase in exposure to exploitation threatens an intensification of child labour, forced labour, forced marriage, and even forced recruitment into armed groups in fragile, contexts and crisis-affected contexts.

Street Child teams carrying out rapid needs assessments in returnee camps in Balkh province, Afghanistan. Street Child teams carrying out rapid needs assessments in returnee camps in Balkh province, Afghanistan.

From refugee camps in Bangladesh to remote, rural communities in Liberia and Sierra Leone, we heard that food insecurities, increasing costs and the loss of livelihoods are triggering adverse coping strategies: from borrowing cash and goods from friends and relatives, reducing meals and restricting expenses to consuming seed stocks and selling domestic and productive assets to make ends meet. Respondents made direct and indirect references to an increase in stress: the COVID-19 crisis is taking an enormous toll on mental health around the globe, but for those on the edge of survival with their lives in constant crisis, additional crises both exacerbate emotional burden and reduce resilience. Street Child is calling for the cross-cutting consideration of protection needs: all efforts to protect the poorest and most marginalised populations must be alive and responsive to protection risks.

These critical consequences are intensified in countries grappling with conflict and crisis: from chronic conflict and insurgencies in Afghanistan, Cameroon, Northern Mozambique and North East Nigeria, to climate-induced crises - including flooding and locust plagues - in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. These trajectories threaten to reinforce the risks of the COVID-19 crisis: as we have since seen in the recent cyclone in Bangladesh.

However, assistance is scarce. Just over half of our respondents report receiving any kind of assistance from family, friends, government and non-governmental actors. Much of this was one-off, one-time assistance that is insufficient to cover or cope with induced shocks. As resource-rich countries call on social safety nets to protect their populations, the contrasts could not be more stark. Street Child is calling on governments and global actors to increase investments in social safety nets in the poorest parts of the world: in-time investments in cash, income support and livelihoods strengthening are critical to protect populations from the adoption of adverse coping strategies and reduce reliance on resource-intensive investment in livelihoods recoveries in the long-term. Smart investments will save lives - and pave a sustainable path out of the pandemic.

Street Child recognises that as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to turn into a chronic crisis, families, communities and countries require assistance to adapt to its realities. Our sustained commitment to children, caregivers and communities will continue to prioritise protection, learning and livelihoods - to target the needs and gaps revealed in this report.

Street Child continues to champion local actors - both as an investment in effective, efficient and relevant response, and an investment in increasing local level response and resilience to future crises. Our Global COVID-19 Crisis Response, that has reached over 1 million people with life-saving, life-sustaining information to date - stands on the shoulders of our deep, diverse network of national partners. Over 50 of these partners supported us to administer and analyse the results of this rapid assessment; these partners will be instrumental in realising our efforts to act on the recommendations made in this report.

As Street Child looks ahead to the next phase of response across continued COVID-19 prevention, preparedness, protection, learning and livelihoods, we will be working hand in hand with our network of national partners to reach, respond and achieve the greatest impact possible for our children and communities.