Unicef English news | Unicef, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

New Delhi, Aug 19 The Covid-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to child protection services in more than 100 countries, leaving a large number of children at increased risk of violence, exploitation and abuse, said a global survey by UNICEF on Wednesday.Of 136 countries that responded to the agency's "Socio-Economic Impact Survey of Covid-19 Response", 104 countries reported a disruption in services related to violence against children.Around two-thirds of countries reported that at least one service had been severely affected, including South Africa, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan.South Asia, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia have the highest proportion of countries reporting disruptions in the availability of services."We are just beginning to fully understand the damage done to children because of their increased exposure to violence during pandemic lockdowns," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, said in a statement."Ongoing school closures and movement restrictions have left some children stuck at home with increasingly stressed abusers. The subsequent impact on protection services and social workers means children have nowhere to turn for help."As countries adopted prevention and control measures to contain Covid-19, many vital violence prevention and response services were suspended or interrupted as a result.More than half of the countries reported disruptions in case management, referral services and home visits by child welfare and social workers to children and women at risk of abuse.Violence prevention programmes, children's access to child welfare authorities, and national helpline services have also been affected in many countries, according to the responses.Even before the pandemic, children's exposure to violence was widespread, with about half of the world's children experiencing corporal punishment at home and 1 in 3 adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 having been victimised by their intimate partner at some point in their lives."Child protection systems were already struggling to prevent and respond to violence against children, and now a global pandemic has both made the problem worse and tied the hands of those meant to protect those at risk," added Fore.In India, UNICEF is working with CHILDLINE which has been declared an emergency service by the Indian government to handle some of the immediate and long term consequences of Covid-19 related to protection of children.It received 4.6 lakh calls in 21 days from March 20 to April 10.Nearly 10,000 of these were intervention cases which required CHILDLINE staff to reach the children in need of support.Of these 30 per cent were related to Covid-19 and with a need for protection from abuse and exploitation.( With inputs from IANS )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

UnicefFOLLOW

Unicef, Latest News

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana is currently in Chandigarh undergoing intense training sessions to become a cross-functional athlete and has been keeping away from social media. Now, the sources confirmed that the actor has flown his personal trainer Rakesh ...

Cape Town, Sep 22 The Unicef on Tuesday called on governments, parents, and teachers across Eastern and Southern ... ...

UNICEF India has roped in the youth icon and Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana as its celebrity advocate for promoting, and supporting its work around ending violence against children. ...

New Delhi, Sep 4 The CyberPeace Foundation on Friday announced a partnership with WhatsApp to create awareness on ... ...

The main focus of Andhra Pradesh government is to further reduce COVID-19 mortality rate, said Medical and Health Department Special Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy on Tuesday. ...

The main focus of Andhra Pradesh government is to further reduce COVID-19 mortality rate, said Medical and Health Department Special Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy on Tuesday. ...

American singer-songwriter Katy Perry who just welcomed her baby daughter with husband Orlando Bloom, Daisy Dove Bloom, on Wednesday (local time), dropped her sixth studio album, 'Smile,' on Friday. ...

New Delhi, Aug 19 The Covid-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to child protection services in more than 100 ... ...