Report on the progress on sanitation and hygiene in schools during COVID-19. Global school closures in response to COVID-19 affect up to 1.6 billion children and present an unprecedented risk to their education and wellbeing. WHO and UNICEF guidelines on infection prevention in schools identify a range of measures that need to be in place for schools to reopen and operate safely, including regular handwashing with soap and water, daily disinfection and basic drinking water and sanitation services. Yet the latest global estimates found that in the 60 countries identified as having the highest risk of health and humanitarian crisis due to COVID-19, one in two schools lacked basic water and sanitation services and three in four lacked basic handwashing services at the start of the pandemic. Accelerating progress in countries with the lowest coverage of WASH in schools will therefore be critical to improving school safety during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The full report is available.
UNICEF’s 2022 Flagship Child Nutrition Report on the latest data and evidence on the status, trends, and inequities in the nutritional status of adolescent girls and women. It sheds light on the barriers they face in accessing nutritious diets, utilizing essential nutrition services, and benefitting from positive care practices. The report calls on governments and partners to work together on ten key actions to transform the food, health, and the social protection systems that aim to improve access to nutritious diets and essential nutrition services, as well as to strengthen nutrition and care practices for adolescent girls and women, everywhere. The full report, executive summary, statistical booklet, and video are available.
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Press release on the launch and key messages of the fifth annual Asia-Pacific regional SOFI report. The report’s highlights capture the challenges and system-level determinants of unhealthy diets in urban areas, both regarding undernutrition and overweight. It presents, among others, data on food security and affordability and the state of progress on achieving the global nutrition targets. The findings profile various urban environments, interventions, experiences, and opportunities to innovate at multiple levels to transform urban areas into sustainable cities. A link to the report's virtual launch event is available including the recording, key messages, and full report.
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Article on the impact of COVID-19 related pathways on the first thousand days of life in the Integrated Child Development Scheme and the public distribution ecosystem in India. Data sources: Using Cochrane guidelines, electronic databases, namely Google Scholar and PubMed-NCBI, were searched for evidence between 1 March 2020 and 1 May 2022. A total of 73 studies were identified in initial search; 20 met the inclusion criteria and, thus, were included in the research analysis. Primary studies were conducted throughout pan-India in rural, urban, and semi-urban areas to study the impact of COVID-19-related pathways on the first 1000 days of life. The impact of social security, food insecurity, service delivery, nutrition of pregnant and nursing mothers (P&NMs), and infant and young child feeding (IYCF) varied between geographies and within geographies. Most of the primary studies were conducted at small scale, while only three studies were pan-Indian. The majority of studies were conducted on the mental health of P&NMs and pre-natal and post-natal service delivery disruption. The paucity of the available literature highlights the need to undertake research on the impact of the COVID-19 -related pathways on 1000 days of life in India and worldwide. The best implementation practices were observed where cross-sectional programs were carried out in relation to health services and social security for P&NMs and children.
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