Home » Business » World Children’s Day – Caritas Secretary General for International Programs, Andreas Knapp: “We need a worldwide Covid-19 education offensive”

World Children’s Day – Caritas Secretary General for International Programs, Andreas Knapp: “We need a worldwide Covid-19 education offensive”


Knapp: “Children who live in poverty are threatened with negative consequences for life. Children need access to education, protection from violence and exploitation and adequate health care. “

Vienna (OTS) On the occasion of World Children’s Day on November 20, Caritas General Secretary for International Programs, Andreas Knapp, warns of the effects of the pandemic on every child worldwide. The right to education is anchored as a child’s right in Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this right aims at equal opportunities for all children and is becoming increasingly distant due to the pandemic, especially internationally.

Worldwide joint Covid-19 education offensive

The corona pandemic has the potential that children who live in poverty are threatened with negative consequences for life, because for the first time in history the education of an entire generation was interrupted. “Children need access to education, protection from violence and exploitation and adequate health care. Even if all children experience major changes in their lives as a result of the pandemic, children in the poorest regions are particularly affected, as a recent report by ‘Save The Children’ shows. It is the responsibility of governments to decisively combat inequality and poverty, which are exacerbated by the pandemic, with the aim of not leaving any child behind, ”said Knapp on the occasion of World Children’s Day. Despite crises and disasters, learning must be kept alive. “Governments and donors are called upon to resolve and implement a joint, worldwide Covid19 education offensive. A plan that ensures that children affected by poverty, and especially girls, can safely return to school, ”says Knapp. Pope Francis also repeatedly spoke out in favor of a worldwide educational pact.

Future prospects worsen

Caritas fears that the long-term, negative effects of Covid-19 will primarily affect children from the poorest countries. According to the latest figures from UNICEF, it is expected that around 150 million children also have no access to food, water, hygiene, housing or education. “Not being able to learn, not going to school, has the most fatal consequences, especially for children who grow up under the most difficult conditions,” said Knapp. “For children, going to school means getting out of stressful or violent family situations, education means daily structure, but also health care, sex education and thus family planning. For girls, going to school means that they will not be married off young. The risk that many girls will not return to school after the pandemic is alarming. ”

Half of the displaced children will not return to school

A UNHCR report on education for Refugees: After the school closings associated with COVID-19, up to half of all refugee children will not return to class. The Malala Fund also estimates that in countries with low enrollment rates, girls in secondary school will not return to classes at all after schools reopen.

In 2015, Caritas launched the regional, holistic education program RHEP (Regional Holistic Education Program) in order to protect the right to education for children on the move. Every year, RHEP offers almost 3,500 Syrian children and children particularly affected by poverty in Jordan and Lebanon access to high-quality education – since 2018 also directly in Syria. The special thing about this program: The children are continuously looked after psychologically and mentally in order to learn to deal with the experiences of the flight. But they, too, are now partially affected by school closings, as an affected mother in Jordan reports: “Due to the lockdown, I could no longer go to work and have accumulated debts to put food on the table. But the worst is that the children can no longer go to school and so they are denied the only opportunity to meet friends, learn and be children. ”

This is how Caritas helps children affected by poverty in lockdown

Corona has presented the colleagues in Albania with great challenges: when the schools are closed, the children no longer come to the day center and they also lack the daily food. Without further ado, they switched to a mobile kitchen: food for the families, hygiene material for the households and often also mobile advice for parents who were overwhelmed by the lockdown are brought directly to the villages. In this way, the children can stay in contact with the caregivers, who are often important people they can trust. And especially in the time of lockdown, when many families find themselves in additional existential hardship and violence among each other increases, it is particularly important to have someone outside the family who can be trusted.

The lockdown is particularly tough for girls and young women in Slovakia and Bulgaria. The day care center is not only the place where the girls study, it is also the place where they support each other in continuing to go to school. Education lasts longer than beauty and if you don’t have to marry early out of necessity, you have the chance to learn a trade and then you are not dependent for a lifetime. Corona brings regression here, and it is already clear that many young girls are being married again – often just to have one less eater at the table. Through the regular visits of the day care center staff, the trusting discussions and also the material support they bring, some of the girls can be kept studying and the parents can be supported.

Further information:

www.caritas.at/kinder

www.caritas.at/rhep

Caritas RHEP on Youtube

Inquiries & contact:

Caritas Austria
Eunike de Wilde
Hurry
+43 (676) 7804677
eunike.dewilde@caritas-austria.at
www.caritas.at

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