An Issue Brief - Primary and Secondary Effects of COVID-19 on Women and Children in Ghana
The wellbeing of children in Ghana in the COVID-19 pandemic
Highlights
This issue brief was developed by UNICEF and the Social Policy Research Institute, in collaboration with the National Development Planning Commission. It built on existing micro-data, analyses of children’s vulnerabilities and specific phone survey data collected between March and June 2020. The paper outlines the primary and secondary impacts of COVID-19 on children in Ghana.
In the short term, children have experienced reduced access to essential goods and services, increased poverty, food insecurities and exposure to violence, abuse and exploitation, as well as declines in physical and mental health. In the long term, these might lead to intensified adverse effects on children’s health, nutrition and learning outcomes, psychosocial well-being, and on the ability of households to recover. Especially among vulnerable households and children, these factors risk exacerbating existing deprivations and inequities.
