Latest news, updates, publications and events on child poverty research, policies and programming       

FEBRUARY 2021
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Dear readers,

We're delighted to share with you the first issue of our 2021 newsletter. As usual, our bulletin compiles the latest news, updates, and resources on child poverty research and programming, including in the context of COVID-19.

Warm regards,
the Global Coalition to End Child Poverty.
[link removed] UNICEF Social Policy Twitter ([link removed])
[link removed] Global Coalition Twitter ([link removed])
[link removed] Global Coalition Website ([link removed])


** Europe has to face this grim reality: 19,4 million children in the EU live in poverty.
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The European Union must boldly rethink its socio-economic governance if it is to live up to its commitment to eradicate poverty, said Professor Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights said at the end of an official visit to the EU’s institutions in January 2021.

One in five people, or 21.1 percent of the population, was at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2019: this represents a total of 92.4 million people. A total of 19.4 million children, representing 23.1 percent, live in poverty across the Union.

“The current crisis is the chance for Europe to reinvent itself by placing social justice at its core. The presentation of the Action Plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights, which should include the Child Guarantee and a proposal to ensure adequate minimum incomes schemes are available across the EU, is an opportunity that should not be wasted."

→ Read the full statement ([link removed])


** Child poverty analysis and socio-economic assessments to inform the COVID-19 response
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Timely, quality and context-specific assessments are critical to understand the scale and scope of the COVID-19 crisis, and to inform national policies and programmes to reach the most vulnerable children. Working closely with UN partners, international financial institutions and civil society organizations, UNICEF supports child poverty analysis and socio-economic assessments in over 100 countries across all regions.

Our mapping provides a list of published and upcoming reports that present preliminary findings from regions and countries.
Check out the reports ([link removed])
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Report
Cash Transfers: A Lifeline for Children and Economies in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2021
by UNICEF

This working paper makes the case for quickly expanding cash transfer programs across Sub-Saharan Africa to protect children and support economic recovery in 2021. The analyses and recommendations draw on more than 25 global databases, projection and monitoring exercises. → Read the report ([link removed])

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Report
Combatting pandemic-induced child poverty in North Africa: UNICEF study with PEP-OPM
by PEP, Oxford Policy Management, UNICEF

Two teams of local researchers—in Morocco and Tunisia—conducted impact simulations as part of a joint PEP-OPM project, for a UNICEF-MENA research initiative to strengthen evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child poverty and the role of social protection in the MENA region.
([link removed]) → Read the reports ([link removed])

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Report
Monitoring the Impact of COVID-19 on Children in Ghana
by Ghana National Development Planning Commission, UNICEF, SPRI Global

The Social Policy Research Institute has supported UNICEF Ghana and National Development Planning Commission, in monitoring and assessing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and their families. The research accounts for pre-COVID-19 vulnerabilities to inform monitoring of present developments and lays the groundwork for simulations of future impact. → Read the reports ([link removed])

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Report
Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies in Generating and Governing Data – Learning from Two Decades of Research at Young Lives
by Young Lives

Young Lives has published many technical reports and papers explaining the study’s research design and methodology. This report complements these publications by drawing on the experiences and insights of Young Lives staff, past and present, to reflect on the data challenges and opportunities encountered during the research, the strategies used to address these challenges and the lessons learnt.

→ Read the full report ([link removed]) and summary ([link removed])

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Report
Adolescent Girls in Crisis: Voices from Sahel
by Plan International

The Adolescent Girls in Crisis series is informed by and centred upon the voices and experiences of girls at risk in some of the world’s most volatile and impoverished locations. This latest report focuses on the protracted crisis in the Sahel region and talks to girls and young women affected by violence and insecurity in Burkina Faso and Mali.

→ Read the full report ([link removed]) and executive summary ([link removed])

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Report
The Hidden Impact of COVID-19 on Children in Urban Contexts
by Save the Children

This global study addresses how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children’s health, nutrition, learning, wellbeing, protection, family finances, and poverty - and to identify the needs of children and their families. The research was implemented in 46 countries with 31,683 parents and caregivers and 13,477 children aged between 11 and 17. 70% of urban respondents reported losing more than half their income, compared to 65% of rural respondents. → Read more ([link removed])

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Report
Our Europe. Our Rights. Our Future
by ChildFund Alliance, Eurochild, Save The Children, UNICEF and World Vision

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed children and young people in Europe and beyond toward stress and uncertainty. One in five children in the EU who responded to the survey report growing up unhappy and anxious for the future.

For the report, "Our Europe. Our Rights. Our Future,” more than 10,000 children and young people between 11 and 17 years old from within and outside Europe were consulted. The children’s voices will help inform the EU's Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the Child Guarantee. → Read the report ([link removed])

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Report
Cash on the Move: Adapting Multi-Purpose Cash ‘Plus’ Assistance to support people on the move - A Case Study from Peru
by Save the Children

This case study documents the implementation of the 2019 Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) ‘Plus’ Nutrition and Protection program targeting Venezuelan migrants in Peru, funded by USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (formerly FFP and OFDA). It is divided into three main sections, each focusing on specific operational or programmatic aspects, with the objective of providing practical information and lessons learnt from the project to a varied audience. → Read the report ([link removed])

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Report
Child-sensitive Social Protection in Malawi: Summary of Analysis and Recommendations
by Save the Children

This brief provides a summary of findings from analysis carried out on the child-sensitivity of the social protection system in Malawi, commissioned by Save the Children in 2020. The intended audience includes central and line ministries of the Government of Malawi, bilateral and multilateral development partners, international NGOs, civil society organisations and independent agencies, among others. → Read the report ([link removed])

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Report
‘Leave no one behind’ – five years into Agenda 2030: guidelines for turning the concept into action
by ODI

The ‘leave no one behind’ (LNOB) agenda rose to prominence as the Millennium Development Goal era closed. This report discusses the interpretation of the principle to date, and how to advance the agenda.
→ Read the report ([link removed])

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Policy brief
Children’s Right to be Heard: We’re Talking; Are You Listening?
by Joining Forces Alliance

Nearly a year since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, children worldwide continue to grapple with unprecedented hardships. As reported in this fifth policy brief from Joining Forces, the virus however did not destroy children’s resolve to find and use their voices as forces for change. This brief explores factors that inhibit children’s meaningful participation and outlines key takeaways from children on how their participation can lead to outcomes that are more meaningful and impactful.

→ Read the paper ([link removed])

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Report
#CovidUnder19: An initiative to meaningfully involve children in responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
by Terre de hommes (ChildFund Alliance )

How do children experience the pandemic, from one end of the world to the other? To find out, Terre des hommes, in collaboration with the UN and around 30 organisations, as well as children and young people, created the #CovidUnder19 initiative and launched an international survey. A total of 26,258 children and young people aged 8 to 17 from 137 countries participated in the survey. 41% of the respondents said their family had less money to meet their needs since Coronavirus.
→ Find out more ([link removed])

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At The Bottom Again: Child Wellbeing in The U.S.
by Samantha Cocco-Klein, Equity for Children’s Senior Advisor

For the most part, children are a forgotten constituency in American politics and policy debates. Over the past decade, there has been piecemeal attention and progress in areas such as education and healthcare coverage. Due to COVID-19, childcare, an issue that has seen little traction for decades, is now a top issue in the US presidential race. However, there is still no overarching federal or presidential agenda to improve American children’s wellbeing.

→ Read the commentary ([link removed])

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Creating a Resilient New Normal for Savings Groups
by a global financial inclusion community member

Community-level surveys conducted across Africa and Asia by World Vision (WV) and Vision Fund found that local realities paint the same grim picture as the global predictions. The financial resilience of individuals, households, savings groups and micro businesses has been significantly eroded due to the major downturn in economic activity. → Read the blog ([link removed])

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Economic impact of the pandemic puts pressure on Kenyan families
by the Joining Forces Alliance

A child protection needs assessment carried out by the Joining Forces alliance in Kenya in November of 2020 revealed the immense pressures faced by poor families in Kenya during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. → Read the blog ([link removed])

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The hidden value of social health insurance: breaking the intergenerational poverty trap?
by Christoph Strupat, German Development Institute (GDI)

Social health insurance is not merely about securing access to health care, it also has positive and important knock-on effects on families and children when they no longer have to engage in negative coping strategies. → Read the blog ([link removed])


** Multidimensional Poverty Indices: An SDG Indicator, an Official Statistic, and a Policy Tool
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The Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network (MPPN) is pleased to announce a high-level Side-Event at the 52nd session of the UN Statistical Commission on Thursday, 25th February 2021, at 9:00am New York time on Zoom.

Open to all, the event ‘Multidimensional Poverty Indices: An SDG Indicator, an Official Statistic, and a Policy Tool’ will be chaired by Mr Risenga Maluleke, Statistician General of South Africa.

→Visit MPPN's website ([link removed]) for more information and registration.


** Behind the Screen: Grassroots Experiences Accessing Social Services and Education in a Digital World
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Hosted during the 59th session of the Commission for Social Development, this side-event brings together activists with a lived experience of poverty—affected by either the digital divide or the digital transformation of public services—academics working on the digital welfare state, and Member State representatives proposing good practices. The panelists engaged in discussion on the intersectional challenges that lie in transforming government services in the digital era while protecting the rights, dignity and wellbeing of all, especially that of individuals and families with lived experience of poverty. →Read the live Twitter coverage ([link removed])


** Call for evidence | Children in poverty: Measurement and targets
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The Work and Pensions Committee of the UK Parlianment has launched an inquiry into children in poverty.

For the first part of its inquiry, the Committee wants to understand how child poverty can most accurately be measured and defined, and how the Department for Work and Pensions should work with other parts of government to reduce the numbers of children living in poverty.

After this, the Committee expects to look at how well the social security system is working for children; at the experiences of children whose parents have no recourse to public funds; at the support available from DWP for working parents; and at support for separated families.

→Read more ([link removed])
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Poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals: From the Local to the Global
by Bristol Poverty Institute

The Bristol Poverty Institute (BPI) invites you to join this international, interdisciplinary online conference which will feature a range of sessions across three days, including formal presentations, interactive workshops and networking opportunities. The interdisciplinary programme for this conference is framed around the interconnected SDGs. The conference features wide range of speakers and participants from all over the world bringing different theoretical, methodological and disciplinary approaches to the analysis and mitigation of poverty.

→ For more information, including how to register, please visit BPI's website. ([link removed])

ONLINE COURSE
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* Free online classes by PEP:
+ Measuring and Alleviating Poverty and Inequality → Start Learning ([link removed])
+ Policy Impact Analysis → Start Learning ([link removed])
+ Computable General Equilibrium Modelling ([link removed]) → Start Learning ([link removed])
* Designing a Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021 by UNDP and OPHI. → Start Learning ([link removed])

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JOB OPPORTUNITIES
* Individual Contractor –Transfer Project evaluation and research uptake specialist ([link removed]) , UNICEF ESARO, Nairobi. Deadline March 9, 2021
* Advocacy Manager, Child Poverty ([link removed]〈=en&%C2%A0src=SNS-10020) , Save the Children International. Deadline March 2, 2021

Have ideas on what to include in future Child Poverty newsletter?
Get in touch with us at: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) and [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
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The Global Coalition to End Child Poverty is a global initiative to raise awareness about children living in poverty across the world and support global and national action to alleviate it as outlined by SDG Goal 1: ([link removed]) No Poverty. Our members ([link removed]) work together as part of the Coalition, as well as individually, to achieve a world where all children grow up free from poverty, deprivation and exclusion.

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