COVID-19 effects are hitting children the hardest

While children seem to be less affected by the Coronavirus directly, the impact of the pandemic as a whole is devastating for children in South Sudan. The COVID-19 situation in the country is rapidly evolving. Therefore, the humanitarian community has taken a closer look at the situation for children to identify specific needs and gaps and solutions for how to address them.

Children are amongst the most affected as the COVID-19 continues to exacerbate the vulnerabilities of affected populations in South Sudan. COVID-19 has already resulted in the disruption of learning where approximately 2 million children, currently enrolled in primary and secondary levels, are being deprived of education as schools are shut down. This is in addition to the 2.2 million children estimated to be out of school. Of particular concern are the children with disabilities who might not be able to access the remote learning programmes that were put in place. COVID-19 will likely result in disruption of  health and nutrition services, including immunization, growth monitoring, antenatal, delivery and post-natal care for pregnant women, and community-based health and nutrition service delivery. This may heighten the risk of death for more than 292,000 children who will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year and might increase the number of children  suffering from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). Projections earlier this year estimated that one million children will suffer from MAM in 2020.

Millions of children will likely face increasing threats to their safety, health and wellbeing – including separation from their caregivers, physical and emotional abuse, gender-based violence, exploitation and distress. Displaced children and their families and people with disabilities are particularly at risks as they tend to live in overcrowded and informal settings. Over 11,000 unaccompanied and separated children including those released from detention and armed forces and armed groups are still in need of family tracing and reunification services. One million children are at risk of psychosocial distress. This is further aggravated by some of the COVID-19 preventive measures such as the close of schools disrupting their routine and social support systems-leading to negative coping mechanisms. Left without access to the protective environment of schools, the risk of children being neglected, abused or exploited increases significantly.

We cannot allow children to carry the consequences Responding to children’s heightened needs due to COVID-19, should be at the centre of humanitarian assistance. Radio education programmes covering core subjects on primary and senior levels have been launched, targeting 800,000 children. The humanitarian community is working on increasing access to the lessons through distribution of radios while also improving the quality of the lessons. Unaccompanied and separated children, children with disability, children in detention or care centres, children associated with armed forces and groups will be prioritized in humanitarian response. However, due to decreased face-to-face access and funding gaps, the crucial child protection services are at the verge of closure in some locations. Child- focused information on COVID-19, psychosocial support and available child protection services as well as education and communication materials and messages will be developed and disseminated. Special attention will be given to hot spot areas including camps for internally displaced people. Humanitarian actors are aiming at keeping 95 per cent of all nutrition sites open while following the preventive COVID-19 measures to ensure continuity of critical services and contribute to decreasing suffering, morbidity and mortality related to malnutrition among children. Humanitarian partners will continue supporting children’s needs through coordinated humanitarian response planning processes.