Coram International remains committed to the protection and promotion of children’s rights across the world. In times of emergency we continue to provide world-class research and consultancy services and have adapted our practices and policies to meet the needs of partner agencies, children and communities in the Covid-19 context.
Impacts of Covid-19 on children
As the number of Covid-19 cases increase worldwide, we have seen a major rise in the needs of children and families. For the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children, the dual public health and socio-economic crisis caused by the pandemic are having devastating consequences. Additionally, lockdowns have resulted in a rise in cases of gender-based violence and violence against children at a time when access to services to prevent and respond to such violence remain restricted. Given the unprecedented nature of Covid-19, we believe it is more important than ever to create a world in which children’s rights are upheld and children are able to thrive. Our team has been at the forefront of assessing and addressing the impact of the pandemic on children and young people. We welcome any enquiries regarding opportunities to conduct research and assessment on the impacts of Covid-19 on children and provide technical support in the Covid-19 context.
Adapted approaches
We recognise that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, ways of working at both the national and international level have changed and will continue to evolve given the current circumstances. Coram International will continue to be innovative and flexible in our approach to research and delivery of technical services. We are invested in working with partners to meet the needs of children at this challenging time.
Our team is well practiced at working remotely in a variety of contexts across the globe, and we have adapted our approach and methods and utilised innovative communication technology to deliver high quality results for children and youth. We have also adapted our risk assessment and mitigation strategies and ethical procedures and tools to take account of the extra challenges posed by the Covid-19 context.
Working to support and protect children during Covid-19
Throughout the pandemic our team of socio-legal researchers and lawyers are hard at work in a variety of country contexts, continuously adapting our approach and methods to meet the needs of partners on the ground. For example:
1. In Kazakhstan we have delivered world-class interactive online training and specialised coaching for NGOs, social workers and Government agencies to deliver a new model child protective services for children affected by migration.
2. Despite a state of emergency being declared, in Bulgaria we successfully completed fieldwork in summer 2020 for a national study on violence against children. We worked with our national partners to develop an alternative survey sampling strategy and conducted qualitative interviews remotely.
3. We are currently also working in Zambia to support UNICEF and Government stakeholders to develop a Communication and Advocacy Strategy to promote the use of pre-trial diversion. To inform the development of the strategy, we have conducted remote qualitative interviews with stakeholders over zoom, including government officials, front-line professionals, community leaders, young people and their guardians.
4. In Cambodia we have conducted several remote consultative workshops and provided home-based technical assistance to develop a new Law and Standard Operating Procedures on Child Protection to support effective case management, referral and delivery of child protection services.
5. In Mongolia we have partnered with national researchers to conduct over 200 key informant interviews both remotely and in person in line with current official Covid-19 guidance to inform our evaluation of the 2016 Law on Child Protection.
Should you have any questions about our response to Covid-19, please do not hesitate to contact us at international@coramclc.org.uk