Unicef: A time to stand together

by Clipper Round the World Race 9 Apr 2020 16:38 NZST

Unicef: A time to stand together © Clipper Race

During this truly unprecedented and difficult time, Clipper Race Charity Partner, Unicef UK and its entire global family, offer all of their support to Clipper Race Crew, Supporters and Partners.

Unicef has created a variety of helpful resources for parents and children which can be found on its website. They will continue to be updated and more will be available over the coming weeks.

Over recent weeks, Unicef's appeal has significantly grown from $42.3m to $635m in recognition of extraordinary needs across the globe and what is a rapidly evolving global threat. Unicef has been working around the clock to address these needs, and know that as a global community the fight has just begun.

Unicef is focusing its efforts in key areas and would like to urgently discuss them with you to determine if there are ways we can work together in support of children globally.

The developing situation:

Where the initial response focused heavily on the East Asia, Pacific Islands, and South Asia regions where the outbreak had the earliest impact, the response is now expanding to support vulnerable children across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia, Latin American, and the Caribbean.
Whilst children, fortunately, seem to be less severely affected by the direct health impacts of COVID-19, the secondary impacts on children and women across the world of this rapidly escalating situation are unprecedented. Already 776.7 million children are out of schooland housebound due to COVID-19 related school closures - a number rising daily.
The impacts on families and caregivers is huge, with illness, isolation, fear and loss of livelihoods creating extremely challenging situations for many.
Already vulnerable children are being placed more at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation as the safety nets of school, social services and community are eroded; and vital caregivers fall ill or die.
Those already living in poverty will be pushed into even more dire straits as livelihoods collapse and economies suffer.
Unicef is responding to the outbreak by focusing on limiting human-to-human transmission, mitigating the impact of the outbreak on the health system and affected communities, and implementing mitigation measures for the secondary impacts of the outbreak.

Unicef in action:

Tackling misinformation: Unicef needs to reach people very urgently with health education messages in all the right languages and channels to ensure they understand how to protect themselves and their children from infection.
Train health care workers and stock health facility supplies: Unicef needs to help health facilities and staff train and stock supplies to fill critical gaps in capacity to respond to outbreaks.
Handwashing supplies: Unicef needs to provide urgent handwashing and hygiene supplies to schools, health centers, childcare facilities and all child focused locations to stop the spread of the infection.
Child protection and keep children learning: Unicef needs to help keep children safe at home and learning during school & kindergarten closures including mental first aid for families under severe pressure.