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TLDR: The impact of the pandemic continues to filter down to the most vulnerable members of society across the world.
Other than direct consequences on health, economic devastation and school closures have reduced children’s access to education and increased the incidence of child marriage, both of which are critical legal issues relating to children.
More thoughts: Almost every country in the world agrees with the principles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognises children’s rights to education, protection against sexual exploitation and practices that are prejudicial to their health. Many countries have put into place national laws that reflect these principles. For instance, Singapore mandates a 6-year primary education for its children, and also imposes strict conditions on marriage below the age of 21 years old.
However, the pandemic has undermined these efforts in communities across the world.
School closures and lack of digital resources have completely deprived many children of education for a prolonged period. The first article above estimates that 86 million children in Latin America, or 2 out of 3 kids, have not returned to school in 18 months. Kids who are not in school lose opportunities to learn and are more susceptible to negative and even criminal activities.
Poverty and desperation have also driven children to drop out of school in order to support their families or get married to reduce their families’ financial burden. Child marriage presents serious threats to children’s physical, emotional and socio-economic well-being.
The second article above calls for the government of Bangladesh to implement stronger measures to protect girls from child marriage, such as enforcing marriage laws, providing skill development to girls, and giving financial support to families of girls so they don’t turn to child marriage as a last resort. This also highlights the important role that governments play in proactively upholding children’s rights through both legislation and enforcement.
Read more about children’s rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Lex & Rex: The Race for Truth.