Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s rights
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 22 June 2021 (18th sitting) (see Doc. 15311, report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and
Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Baroness Doreen Massey). Text adopted by the Assembly on
22 June 2021 (18th sitting).See also Recommendation 2206 (2021).
1. The Parliamentary Assembly is deeply
concerned about the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
on children (any person under the age of 18), who have faced family
bereavement, isolation, the spread of poverty and reduced access
to public services (including health, education and social protection). Children’s
physical and mental health, as well as equal opportunities for learning
and development, have been affected. Violence against children has
increased, including domestic and sexual violence. The impact of
the pandemic in poorer countries has raised serious concerns with
respect to child and infant mortality, child labour, child marriage
and child trafficking. The current generation of children, which
is sometimes referred to as “Generation Covid”, will face the consequences
of this public health crisis for many years to come unless adequate
measures are taken.
2. The Assembly is convinced that, to improve the situation of
children, parents and other carers need to be supported first and
foremost, so that they, in turn, can help children. Children themselves
also need to be listened to. The pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing
problems with respect to social exclusion, inequality and inadequate
social protection systems. In many countries, the downsizing of
public services over the past decades has resulted in a situation
where resources are so thinly stretched that there is hardly any
margin to meet the growing need for support created by the pandemic.
Building robust public services for children and their families,
ensuring that these services are well co-ordinated and that they
will not fall short in the face of major risk situations, should
be a priority in post-pandemic recovery strategies. Child poverty
must be tackled with determination.
3. The gravity of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s
rights varies considerably between and within countries, with the
poorest groups in society and lower-income countries being affected
the most. Solidarity should be the guiding principle for addressing
this public health crisis and its consequences. It is only by meeting
the basic needs of all children, ensuring children’s safety and
supporting families that we can achieve high levels of well-being
and prosperity in our societies.
4. The Council of Europe member States should take urgent action
to address the impact of the pandemic on the rights of the child
and to ensure that all children are protected in accordance with
existing international standards, including the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child and the relevant Council of Europe instruments,
such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5), the
European Social Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163), the Council of
Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women
and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”), the
Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against
Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201, “Lanzarote Convention”),
the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to
Automatic Processing of Personal Data (ETS No. 108), the Convention
on Cybercrime (ETS No. 185, “Budapest Convention”) and the Convention
on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197).
5. The Assembly thus urges the member States of the Council of
Europe to take the following measures:
5.1 with respect to building resilient social protection systems
for children and their carers, to:
5.1.1 ensure a minimum
level of income for parents and carers, regardless of their status
and background, for example in the form of a basic income (sufficient
to meet their needs); such income should be easily accessible and
relevant information should be disseminated to the public;
5.1.2 ensure that relevant resources are made available on a
sustainable basis to the public services dealing with children,
including social protection, health and education services; ensure that
professionals dealing with children receive an adequate salary,
have a stable professional situation and opportunities for professional
development;
5.1.3 pay special attention to children in vulnerable situations,
including children living in poverty, children belonging to minorities,
migrant and refugee children, children of labour migrants left behind
in their countries of origin, children with disabilities, children
with long-term or chronic illnesses, children deprived of liberty,
children in care, young carers and street children;
5.2 with respect to ensuring effective protection of children’s
rights in times of crisis and while respecting the appropriate public
health measures in place, to:
5.2.1 ensure that emergency
and recovery plans, strategies and legislation undergo a child-impact
assessment, and promote budgeting mechanisms for child rights;
5.2.2 reduce the level of stress within families by addressing
socio-economic difficulties, supporting flexible working arrangements
for parents and other carers, including the possibility of taking
special leave on the ground of having a “child in distress”, and
ensuring that the mental and physical well-being of children is
as important as their academic achievement;
5.2.3 maintain functioning public services for children, including
health, education and social protection services, by providing guidance
and health and safety protocols, including instructions for smooth
interservice co-operation and communication, and monitoring their
implementation; raising awareness and building support for such
measures; making full use of information and communication technologies
when appropriate; ensuring that public officials are duly supported when
dealing with critical situations, such as when children are affected
by family bereavement, incidents of intra-family violence, a drastic
decrease in family income, mental health issues or conflict with
the law;
5.2.4 prioritise prevention of violence against children; strengthen
mechanisms for reporting by professionals; set up helplines and
organise awareness-raising campaigns on violence against children,
in particular sexual violence (including in the digital realm);
5.2.5 support research on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
on children’s rights and well-being, including longitudinal studies
on educational attainment and well-being, longer-term educational
and career outcomes and inequalities in life chances;
5.2.6 ensure access to education programmes for all children,
for example using television channels and radio stations or through
the provision of necessary equipment to families with socio-economic
difficulties, and by introducing catch-up programmes; ensure that
children have access to outdoor and indoor play and sport whenever
possible; ensure that the arts and culture are accessible to all
children; ensure support for innovative approaches to socialisation,
safe social networking and identity building for children;
5.2.7 raise awareness of the importance of regular vaccination
programmes for children;
5.2.8 ensure that the principles of child-friendly and restorative
justice are applied in the context of the pandemic, for example
in the case of a breach of lockdown regulations;
5.3 with respect to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on
the rights of children in low-income countries, to:
5.3.1 provide
emergency assistance and ensure that global development programmes address
the situation of children, especially those from vulnerable groups;
and build public support for development programmes and humanitarian
assistance by highlighting the human implications of the crisis
and its potential consequences in an interconnected world;
5.3.2 with respect to the vaccination of children against Covid-19,
implement the recommendations made in
Resolution 2361 (2021) “Covid-19
vaccines: ethical, legal and practical considerations”.
6. The Assembly welcomes the adoption of the European Union’s
Strategy on the Rights of the Child and its strategy for a more
effective fight against child sexual abuse. It calls on the European
institutions to ensure well-co-ordinated support to their member
States in the framework of the European Union and Council of Europe
strategies, making full use of the existing expertise and instruments
such as the Lanzarote Convention. Keeping in mind that the experience
gained during the Covid-19 pandemic will be crucial to being prepared
to provide flexible policy responses to future crisis situations,
for example in the framework of the upcoming Council of Europe Strategy
for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027), which is currently being
prepared.
7. Furthermore, the Assembly welcomes the launch of the proposed
European Child Guarantee by the European Union and urges the European
Union bodies to take account, in its roll-out and implementation,
of the revised European Social Charter and the findings of the European
Committee of Social Rights. The European Union and the Council of
Europe should work closely together to support member States in
putting the European Child Guarantee into practice.
8. The Assembly calls on national parliaments, the European Parliament
and the Inter-Parliamentary Union to join their efforts in building
parliamentary support for addressing the impact of the Covid-19
pandemic on the rights of the child.
9. The Assembly calls on the national parliaments of member States
to support the World Health Organization and institutions delivering
aid programmes for children in order to guarantee their financial stability
so that they are able to provide practical support for children.
