When Pakistan’s polio vaccination campaigns were suspended in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my work researching vaccine acceptance in the country was also suspended. Lockdowns made it difficult to continue working with local communities about their vaccine beliefs, misconceptions and concerns. Soon after, Deepa Pokharel,… Read more →←
The COVID-19 lockdown spelled disaster for Emiliya*, a refugee and married mother of two living in Bulgaria. She was already struggling to assimilate to a new life with lower paying jobs, fewer social opportunities, and a language she still hadn’t mastered. Then the pandemic hit. Schools closed and her son and daughter were learning… Read more →←
I never expected Malaysia or the world to be thrown into such a unique and stressful situation as the COVID-19 pandemic. What a shock for us all both professionally and personally. The standard programming for UNICEF Malaysia is mostly: upstream work with the government, advocacy with civil society and research with academic institutes.… Read more →←
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Afghan women and girls were hard to reach. With no or limited access to telephones, radio, television and the internet, the most common way to spread information was through women going door-to-door or attending women’s groups. When lockdowns started, traditional forms of communication were further… Read more →←
I want to talk about an area that is little known, often misunderstood, yet promising – what we know about the links between gender-based violence and social protection. We know that the period of history we are living through has surfaced severe challenges for girls and women. Alongside the health pandemic and lockdown measures… Read more →←
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, families around the world are facing new and evolving challenges every day — even on Sesame Street. Elmo’s mom, Mae, like many caregivers, is juggling having Elmo home fulltime and adjusting to new family routines. Elmo has also struggled to adapt to his new reality during the COVID-19 pandemic.… Read more →←
The disposal and treatment of human waste has been an integral part of human civilization for thousands of years. From Mesopotamia’s first clay sewage pipes in 4000 BCE, to indoor plumbing in ancient Rome, to flush toilets in the Industrial Revolution, sanitation has helped human health, development and economic prosperity. Sanitation… Read more →←
2020 has been a very peculiar year. I started working as an Education Officer in UNICEF Uruguay at the end of January. One month later, a new President assumed office. Two weeks after that, the first case of COVID-19 was detected, and the President declared a national emergency and closed all schools. We switched to working from home,… Read more →←
COVID-19 has upended everything in Timor-Leste, but it has also been a catalyst for experimentation and rethinking how the education system works. It’s been the most exciting time of my career, to seize the opportunity to do so much to transform how the education system works in just a few short months. I feel like the country has… Read more →←
COVID-19 has jolted a South African education sector that has not seen a mass disruption of learning on this scale. An immediate, coordinated response was required. The strategic relationships we had built with key influencers in government and quasi-government bodies came in handy. Through a phone call with the CEO of the National… Read more →←