A Watershed Moment for Business: The effects of COVID-19 young people
Of all the heartbreaking effects of COVID-19, its impact on young people could prove to be one of its most damaging legacies. In fact, the coronavirus crisis risks turning back the clock on years of progress made on children’s well-being and has put children’s rights under serious pressure across the globe. Issues of access to education, domestic abuse, child labour and lack of decent work are some of the many challenges that those of us working in social sustainability are grappling with. While NGOs, such as Global Child Forum, as well as governments around the world are turning their attention to these problems, I believe that business has a key role to play in finding solutions.
Dark reality of Covid-19 children & youth
No doubt, the effects of the pandemic are already taking a devastating toll on millions of people. But children and youth are especially vulnerable to the greater societal shifts being witnessed as a result of the virus. For example, as children around the world are being asked to learn remotely through digital tools, access to education has become challenging, making the stark digital divide in education more apparent. While laptops and iPads were once a pastime luxury, they are now an educational necessity that not all can afford. New data shows that half of the students out of school due to COVID-19 can’t access online learning and, according to UNESCO, nearly 830 million children don’t have access to a computer at home. The daily schools lunches are also now missing, which for many children was their key source of nutrition.
While some children are safe and secure in their home environments, for others it’s a darker reality. Being confined at home puts some children at increased risk of domestic violence and other forms of abuse, including child trafficking, and online bullying.