‘Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is a child-rights crisis’

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has launched a joint global funding campaign with Danish NGO Human Act to support UNICEF´s efforts in protecting young lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To kickstart the campaign, Thunberg donated the $100,000 prize money she received alongside her Human Act Award 2020 by the Danish NGO for global activism.

Charity Human Act also gave $100,000 to UNICEF to match Thunberg’s donation.

Proceeds from the campaign will be directed to UNICEF’s emergency programmes to fight COVID-19, including through the provision of soap, masks, gloves, hygiene kits, protective equipment, life-saving information and other support to healthcare systems.

“Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is a child-rights crisis,” Thunberg said in a statement.

“It will affect all children, now and in the long-term, but vulnerable groups will be impacted the most.”

Announcing the campaign, Thunberg wrote: “The poorest and the most vulnerable people are always the hardest hit by a crisis.

“Just like the climate crisis, the consequences of the corona pandemic will be most damaging for children in poor countries, in the poorest neighborhoods and for those already in disadvantaged and vulnerable situations.

“More than 1.5 billion children are today affected by school closures.

“This has a direct effect on millions of children and young people’s possibilities to learn, to a lunch meal and get access to water and sanitation.”

She noted that with schools closed more than 300 million school children relying on schools’ meals as a source of daily nutrition would go hungry.

Urging her followers to support the campaign, she added: “This is a global crisis and for millions of children the impact will be lifelong. We need to act now – for the sake of every child.”

More child deaths in 2020

According to a recent U.N. report, while children have been largely spared from the direct health effects of the virus, the global economic downturn could lead to hundreds of thousands of additional child deaths in 2020.

In addition, as many as 66 million additional children could fall into extreme poverty this year due to the pandemic, adding to the estimated 386 million children in dire destitution in 2019, the report estimated.

“The coronavirus pandemic is the greatest struggle the world has seen in generations,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore

“Children and young people are among the most severely impacted by the knock-on effects of COVID-19, so it is only natural that they would want to do something about it. Through her activism, Greta Thunberg has proven that young people are ready to take a stand and lead change in the world. UNICEF is very pleased that Greta and her supporters have not only chosen to take a stand against this pandemic, but to do so in partnership with UNICEF.”

“UNICEF is very pleased that Greta and her supporters have not only chosen to take a stand against this pandemic, but to do so in partnership with UNICEF”, added Fore.

You can donate to the campaign here.

• Read: Struck by coronavirus, Greta Thunberg urges people to stay home

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