UN 16 APR – RIA Novosti. UN Secretary-General antónio Guterres admits that in the midst of a global recession caused by a coronavirus, in 2020 the world may see hundreds of thousands of child deaths.
on Thursday, the Secretary-General submitted a report about the risks confronting children in current environment.
“In the conditions of growing global recession in 2020 can happen hundreds of thousands of additional cases of child deaths,” said Guterres in a video message.
He called on family and political leaders at all levels to protect children.
the Secretary General noted that almost all students now do not attend school. “Some schools offer distance learning, but it is not available to all. Children in countries with slow and expensive Internet are at a severe disadvantage,” said Guterres.
According to him, 310 million students, representing almost half of the total number of children in the world, counting on the school as a constant source of daily nutrition. However, he added that even before the pandemic coronavirus the world is faced with unacceptable levels of malnutrition and stunting in children.
As pointed out by Guterres, children outside of schools, are increasingly becoming witnesses to and victims of domestic violence.
“There is also the risk that girls will drop out of school, which will lead to increased cases of pregnancy among teenagers,” he said. “We should not ignore the growing risks faced by children because of violence, abuse and exploitation on the Internet. Social networks have a special responsibility to protect the vulnerable,” said the Secretary General.
Referring to the health situation, Guterres stressed that the pandemic has affected the vaccination programme. “The campaign of polio vaccination was suspended. Vaccination campaigns against measles ceased to operate in at least 23 countries. And since health services are overloaded, the affected children have less access to treatment,” said UN Secretary-General.
According to him, leaders must do everything possible to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. “The report calls for governments and donors to prioritize education for all children. The document recommends to provide economic assistance, including cash transfers to low-income families, as well as to minimize disruptions to the provision of social and health services to children,” – said Guterres.
“We should also give priority to the most vulnerable groups – children in conflict situations, refugee children and displaced persons children with disabilities”, he concluded.
Current data on the situation of COVID-19 in Russia and the world presented on the portal stopmanager.of the Russian Federation.
