Banjul, 02 December 2020
Ahead of the United Nations Special Session of the General Assembly on COVID-19, on 3 and 4 December 2020, UNICEF and other child rights organizations are calling for urgent action to protect our children. The UN agency notes that in April of this year, 172 Member States, including The Gambia, signed a bold pledge promising to do just this, yet six months later the pandemic is still battering the livelihoods of children and their families.
The Gambia is one of the dozens of countries around the world where the pandemic has upended the essential services that secure the health, education and protection of children and young people. Governments around the world have mobilized billions of dollars to save their economies, but this simply isn’t reaching children. Without urgent action, COVID-19 will decimate future generations.
UNICEF and partners have set out a ‘Six Point Plan to Protect Our Children’, arguing that if governments adopt this plan at the UN Special Session on COVID-19, there still is hope to reverse this crisis and build a ‘better future for us all’. However, this will require for Member States to act fast and smart to save the future of our children.
As The Gambia prepares to make a statement at the UN Special Session on COVID-19, UNICEF is encouraged by the government’s commitment to put the interest of children on the agenda. It is a common misconception that children are spared the worst of COVID-19. In fact, UNICEF warns that children are amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic. Figures show that poverty is rising, and inequality is growing as a result of the pandemic. Children are worried about their future.
To respond, UNICEF is calling on governments to adopt the following ‘Six Point Plan to Protect our Children’:
The UN Special Session on COVID-19 is a critical ‘window of opportunity’, but only if governments make specific commitments to safeguard the health and wellbeing of children and young people. UNICEF remains optimistic that when the names of the countries that support the adoption of the ‘Six Point Plan to Protect Our Children’ are read, The Gambia’s name will be heard.
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For more information, please contact:
Abdoulie Sey, UNICEF The Gambia asey@unicef.org
About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in more than 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.