17 December 2020 - Unicef to feed Britain's children for first time in history
Unicef to feed hungry children in UK for first time in 70-year history
Rho Storer (The Guardian, 16/12/2020)
Unicef has launched a domestic emergency response in the UK for the first time in its more than 70-year history to help feed children hit by the Covid-19 crisis.
The UN agency, which is responsible for providing humanitarian aid to children worldwide, said the coronavirus pandemic was the most urgent crisis affecting children since the second world war.
A YouGov poll in May commissioned by the charity Food Foundation found 2.4 million children (17%) were living in food insecure households. By October, an extra 900,000 children had been registered for free school meals.
British ministers under fire as UNICEF helps to feed nearly 2,000 families in UK over the Christmas holidays
AFP (ABC News, 16/12/2020)
The British Government has faced criticism after it emerged a UN agency is helping to feed hungry children as part of its first ever UK emergency response.
The opposition Labour party said it was "a disgrace" that a grant from UN children's agency UNICEF was helping fund breakfast for nearly 2,000 struggling families over the Christmas school holidays.
"We are one of the richest countries in the world," said Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner, adding "it should have never come to this".
Child poverty will remain above pre-COVID levels for at least five years in high-income countries
(UNICEF, 11/12/2020)
Child poverty is expected to remain above pre-COVID levels for at least five years in high-income countries. Yet, only 2 per cent of government-provided financial relief across OECD and EU countries was allocated specifically to support children and families raising children during the first wave of the pandemic, according to a new UNICEF report.
Supporting Families and Children Beyond COVID-19: Social Protection in High Income Countries – produced by the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti – explores how the social and economic impact of the pandemic is likely to affect children; the initial government responses to the crisis; and how future public policies could be optimised to better support children.
Teachers should receive vaccine priority
AFP (Inquirer, 17/12/2020)
The head of the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, called Tuesday for teachers to be among those given priority access to the COVID-19 vaccines.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on children’s education around the globe. Vaccinating teachers is a critical step towards putting it back on track,” UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore said in a statement.
Teachers should be “prioritized to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, once frontline health personnel and high-risk populations are vaccinated,” she said.