As part of the COVID-19 Diaries, UNICEF Niger accompanies the President of the Association of Traditional Chiefs of Niger during a sensitization campaign in Niamey. These are not easy days in Niamey. The arrival of COVID-19 has not been unnoticed in the capital’s neighborhoods. Communities are mobilizing to face the spread of the… Read more →←
The COVID-19 virus has challenged developed nations in ways that few could have predicted just a few weeks ago. In Iraq, my colleagues and I watch with trepidation as Europe and the US struggle to contain the virus. Hospitals are overwhelmed, there’s an acute shortage of testing and protective equipment, and the death toll continues to… Read more →←
Just as the coronavirus outbreak reached its peak in the Italian province of Lombardy a group of health care professionals, many with Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital in Bergamo, published a short commentary which caught the attention of staff at the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti in Florence. Their simple message: COVID-19 was… Read more →←
With the world staying home due to COVID-19, we see a rise in gender-based violence (GBV), including domestic violence. Recently, the UN reported that Lebanon and Malaysia, for example, have seen the number of calls to helplines double since this time last year; in China they have tripled, and in Australia, search engines are seeing the… Read more →←
While the world may have been caught off guard by the size and ramifications of the COVID-19 crisis, it should be prepared to respond to the increased risks to the wellbeing and safety of children and women. Violence against children and violence against women are widespread globally and intrinsically linked, sharing common risk factors… Read more →←
I don’t think many of us living and working in Italy really understood what was happening when the Government declared a six-month state of emergency on 31 January. Coronavirus was still new. We started getting phone calls from friends and colleagues from all over the world to check on our health and families. As the number of affected… Read more →←
Migration is a core coping strategy for many children and young people across the globe, whether on their own or with their families. But it can also make children and young people vulnerable to further harm and deprivation in the absence of adequate and reliable services and social and economic support. While levels of vulnerability are… Read more →←
My sister is a nurse. She’s one of the female health heroes on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response, and she’s not alone. Women make up 70 per cent of health and social sector workers globally. Think about your latest social media feed. Caregivers overwhelmed with the dual care burdens of paid and unpaid work, from ensuring… Read more →←
On a recent trip to South Africa, I often heard it said that low-income groups have “good access to bad food and bad access to good food”. While the wealthier people can afford a variety of vegetables, fruits, nuts and lean meats, nutritious food is either too expensive or simply not sold in local shops in poorer areas. What people… Read more →←
Three years after Mosul was retaken from the so-called Islamic State, parts of west Mosul still resemble a warzone with entire neighborhoods laid waste. Buildings remain collapsed into each other like a deck of cards. They create a dangerous mashup of bricks and steel that loom over children and families fighting to resume their lives as… Read more →←
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