Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
UNICEF Oman’s support to the Government’s COVID-19 response and recovery plan
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UNICEF is supporting the Government of Oman's COVID-19 response in the area of communication, and by helping to ensure that children have continued access to health, education and protection services.
Risk Communication and Community Engagement
COVID-19 Positive Parenting Communications Campaign
At the start of the outbreak, the Government of Oman established an inter-ministerial RCCE Task Force which developed and is now implementing a COVID-19 positive parenting campaign to complement the Government’s messaging on COVID-19 prevention and containment measures.
The campaign aimed to provide parents with reliable information about the secondary impacts of COVID-19 - e.g. mental health issues - as well as information on general health, nutrition and wellbeing.
The campaign also sought to combat false news and fake information.
The Risk Communications Task Force created a hashtag – #ForOmansChildren – to promote related content.
COVID-19 Expat Workers Communications Campaign
To address a spike in case numbers amongst expat workers, the Government also asked UNICEF for assistance in reaching this hard-to-reach section of the population many of whom do not speak Arabic or English. UNICEF Oman supported the Task Force to develop a communications strategy specifically for expat workers – who number approximately 1.7 million – and their employers. Tailored content was disseminated in 10 languages including Hindi, Bangladeshi, Swahili via SMS text notifications, online community networks, and influencers who have appeal and trust within these communities.
#parents4parents Social Media campaign
At the height of the lockdown, UNICEF Oman launched a social media campaign – #parents4parents – with the aim of raising awareness about positive parenting practices and supporting parents during lockdown. Influential Omani and expat parents submitted short videos for dissemination on UNICEF Oman’s social media channels offering tips and sharing their experiences.
UNICEF Representative Lana Al Wreikat launches the #parents4parents social media campaign in May 2020
#parents4parents
As the finale to our #parents4parents campaign, we asked children in Oman what they had most missed during lockdown and what they were most looking forward to doing after restrictions lifted. Here's what they had to say...
Access to Education
Prior to the onset of the pandemic, developing integrated early child development (ECD) services had been a key area of work for UNICEF Oman. The Government Oman therefore approached UNICEF to support the development of guidelines for the safe re-opening of ECD facilities in the context of COVID-19.
Working with the ministries of social development, health and education, the World Health Organization (WHO) and nursery representatives, UNICEF developed re-opening guidelines to ensure that the benefits of ECD services could be realised while at the same time minimising the risk of additional COVID-19 infections in the community.
Following their endorsement by the Minister of Social Development and the Supreme Committee for COVID-19, the guidelines were widely disseminated and are now being implemented at early learning centres. UNICEF Oman continues to provide support in implementing the guidelines and monitoring their proper application.
Importantly, the work has contributed to building institutional capacity at the MoSD, which oversees this sector, with the establishment of monitoring systems (including the creation of sub-national teams), monitoring tools and the introduction of regular monitoring milestones.
Access to Protection Services
Another of UNICEF Oman’s main areas of work is supporting the development of an integrated case management system (CMS) covering early childhood development, violence against children and children with disabilities.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, UNICEF Oman was supporting a pilot of the new CMS in two governorates. With schools shut – schools are a key location for identifying at-risk children – and social distancing measures in place, training social workers in remote case management became a priority.
UNICEF successfully supported adaptation of the case management system tools to the remote COVID-19 context andand trained 23 social workers in using these tools to address the gaps brought about by COVID-19. The Government of Oman plans to roll out the integrated CMS nationwide.
Throughout the lockdown period, UNICEF engaged social workers via online platforms lockdown to keep them informed about COVID-19 and child protection issues.
Access to Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS)
UNICEF Oman supported the Government to improve and expand access to MHPSS services for children and their parents. UNICEF first assessed the capacity of social workers from the ministries of education, health and social development as well as school nurses to provide these services. Based on this assessment, UNICEF then supported the development of material tailored to the Omani context and trained 57 staff from these ministries in the basics of mental health and the provision of psychosocial support to children, either online or in-person.
The approach focuses on prevention, early detection, intervention and referral, and seeks to equip MHPSS service providers with the tools they need to help children, young people and their parents to overcome any challenges they may face or experience.
Following this training of trainers, the Government of Oman will roll out the programme across the country, thereby ultimately benefitting all school children. This contributes to a stronger overall care environment, which promotes the inclusion of the most vulnerable children and their families.
COVID-19 Youth Technology Challenge
The COVID-19 outbreak and containment measures put in place have exacerbated some of the biggest challenges facing today’s young people: accessing a quality education, learning essential skills, and landing a decent job.
To encourage the development of online platforms to tackle those problems, UNICEF Oman partnered with Oman Technology Fund (OTF) in June 2020 to host a virtual COVID-19 Youth Technology Challenge. This presented young people with an opportunity to take action and develop solutions to problems they themselves had identified.
The competition attracted 140 female and male participants working on 60 projects. As well as Oman, teams also came from Libya, Iraq, Bahrain, Palestine and Egypt. UNICEF Oman and OTF assembled an impressive group of mentors to guide the young entrepreneurs during the weekend challenge, and an exclusive panel of judges, including ministers, CEOs and members of the royal family.
A total of 34 teams competed in the final, presenting video pitches and slide presentations. Judges identified six winning projects – four in the education sector and two in the health sector. Two of the projects focused in particular on providing improved access to education services for children with disabilities or special needs. The winners received support from OTF and UNICEF to further develop their projects.
#MaskUp
UNICEF’s regional office for the Middle East and North Africa in August 2020 launched #MaskUp – a social media campaign featuring children and influencers to encourage people around the region to wear masks, highlight how to properly use them and dispose of them safely. From Oman, tennis player Fatma Al Nabhani and environmental influencer Fahd Al Abri participated in the #MaskUp campaign.
Tennis player Fatma Al Nabhani
It’s important to wear face masks to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to protect yourself and your loved ones
Environmental influencer Fahd Al Abri
Use environmentally friendly face masks and, whatever type of mask you use, please dispose of it properly.