During 2021 and 2022, the Alliance and the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), commissioned Proteknôn Foundation for Innovation and Learning to conduct participatory research across three humanitarian settings—Lebanon, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Colombia—to explore the impact of COVID-19 school closures on child protection and educational inequalities.
Following the research, and to respond to the needs identified, the Alliance and INEE worked with research partners to conduct a series of Round Tables to provide an opportunity to present the findings and recommendations from the research, where participants—children and young people from humanitarian settings, humanitarian actors from various sectors, and global donors—then worked to develop actions to promote child-centred IDO preparedness, response, and recovery.
This research draws from qualitative data gathered in humanitarian contexts in three countries and continents—Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Lebanon—to understand how children have experienced the impact of COVID-19 school closures on their protection, well-being, and education inequalities.
- 'What will happen to our children?': The Impact of COVID-19 School Closures on Child Protection and Education Inequalities in Three Humanitarian Contexts [English, Spanish]
- Protecting Children During COVID-19 School Closures: Lessons from the Social Service Workforce in Three Humanitarian Contexts [English, Spanish]
Advocacy Briefs:
- Global Advocacy Brief - Recommendations for Action [Arabic, English, French, Spanish]
- National Brief: Colombia - Findings and Recommendations for Action [English, Spanish]
- National Brief: DRC - Findings and Recommendations for Action [English, French]
- National Brief: Lebanon - Findings and Recommendations for Action [Arabic, English]
Throughout this research project, we captured children's experiences and perspectives through a variety of mediums in order to capture their experiences during COVID-19 related school closures and reopenings.
This Research Summary by and for young people was written in collaboration with seventeen research and round table participants aged 12 to 17 years from Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Lebanon and is available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish.
Additional research outputs from children and young people include:
- Art Gallery by Children and Young People
- Key Messages and Actions from the Round Table with Children and Young People
- Full-length video from Children and Young People
- Shortened video from Children and Young People [Arabic, English, Spanish, Swahili]
A Video on How Children were Impacted and How We Can Do Better
During the Round Table with Children and Young People, we asked the research participants to share about their experience during school closures related to COVID-19, as well as the question, ‘what are your key message for leaders and decision-makers’? Hear directly from children and young people by watching the video in Arabic, English, Spanish and Swahili.
*To watch the full-length video from Children and Young People, click here: https://youtu.be/RlO-Tq2Cxqs
In the last quarter of 2022 and early 2023, the Alliance and INEE conducted a series of Round Tables that provided an opportunity to present the findings and recommendations from the research. Participants then worked to develop actions to promote child-centred IDO preparedness, response, and recovery.
- Round Table 1: Children and Young People
- Round Table 2: Global: Multi-sector Humanitarian Actors (Child Protection, Education, Health)
- Round Table 3: Donors
- From Evidence to Action: A Series of Global Round Tables [Arabic, English, French, Spanish]
- Annex B - Sector Specific Recommendations (Sector-specific meeting summaries)
- Annex C - Key Actions for Child-Centred Outbreak Preparedness and Response
- Round Table 2: Global Multi-Sector Humanitarian Actors - What We Can Do as a Sector
- Child Protection
- Education
- Health, including Mental Health and Psychosocial Well-being
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