It is known that the current Covid-19 pandemic – in combination with the measures taken to mitigate the dangers – has very serious economic consequences, all across the world. We are expected to emerge from the pandemic into an economic recession that is worse than anything seen since the Second World War and that may even rival the situation in the 1930s. There will be widespread job losses, as well as loss of income in other ways. This situation is predicted to push millions more people – including families with children – below the poverty line. And many of those already living below the poverty line below the extreme poverty line.
Continue reading “Post-Pandemic Child Poverty”Category: Blog
A New Name
From today Why Family-Based Solutions will be called Family-Based Solutions. This change is made to reflect the shifting focus of the work I am doing. At the start of September, when the NGO is around for two years, I will post a blog giving more details about how my work is evolving. However, today, I would like to explain the change of name by addressing the shift in broader terms.
Continue reading “A New Name”Children in Foster Care and Lockdown
An interesting topic came up at a webinar on Children in Alternative Care I attended during the Eurochild Member Days in June: the effects of lockdown on children in foster care. In various countries, surveys have been held to find out how children in foster care were coping with the lockdown. Some of the results were expected, some less so.
Continue reading “Children in Foster Care and Lockdown”Good News on Child Protection Measures
Over the previous month, I have posted blogs raising awareness about the risks and dangers ahead for vulnerable children, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the recession that will follow it. However, I do not just want to focus on the gloomy side. It is important to acknowledge the various plans, measures and campaigns that are being prepared and implemented. So, that is what I would like to do in this blog.
Continue reading “Good News on Child Protection Measures”Call-to-Action: Awareness-Raising
Earlier this week, I sent out another advocacy email to a number of big organisations, with a call to action to mobilise an awareness-raising movement to prevent children being separated from their families unnecessarily. Here is that email:
Continue reading “Call-to-Action: Awareness-Raising”Childonomics for Recovery
In March, I wrote a blog about my discovery of Childonomics (HERE) and the potential that I see in it. When I started to think about the ways in which we need to prepare for the recovery period after the pandemic, the Childonomics methodology sprang to mind almost immediately. In a situation with which everyone is unfamiliar, where no one has a clear idea of what is needed or what would be the best road to take, Childonomics can really provide a tool to help make informed policy decisions.
Continue reading “Childonomics for Recovery”Systemic Racism and Alternative Care
Since the end of May, a spotlight has been put on how far the issues of racial inequality reach, in a way that makes it impossible to ignore anymore. However, while this spotlight and the reaction to it – all over the world – is unprecedented, the problem is not new. And the effects of racial inequality are not limited to police violence. All over the world people of minority racial and ethnic backgrounds – as well as people living in poverty – are marginalised. Anything that might help them succeed or move ahead is placed (almost) beyond their reach and then they are blamed for the situation they find themselves in. This has far-reaching consequences.
Continue reading “Systemic Racism and Alternative Care”Finding the Scattered Children
As mentioned in the email (which you can find HERE), children have been sent back to their families – or simply pushed out of institutions – in various countries at the start of the lockdown. Something which I foresaw would happen back in March (HERE), though this is not something I’m happy to have been right about. Without any preparation, support or monitoring. In fact, in many of these places, no one is entirely sure where these children are right now. And we are talking about thousands of children per country in various countries.
Continue reading “Finding the Scattered Children”Child Protection Issues Foreseen
In the email I posted in the previous blog (HERE), which in turn was forwarded to other organisations, a strong increase in children ending up in institutions due to the pandemic was mentioned. I would like to explain further why this fear exists, and I will also like to share with you some of the issues that came up during conversations I have had with people involved in child protection and alternative care in various countries, as a result of sending the email.
Continue reading “Child Protection Issues Foreseen”Preparing for Post-Pandemic Recovery
In today’s blog, I want to share with you the email that I have sent out to 19 big organisations in May. It is a bit longer than my average blog, but it is worth it:
I am trying to make organisations aware of both the dangers that lie ahead for vulnerable children, and of the opportunity to do something to mitigate those dangers, and I wanted to bring this to your attention as well.
Continue reading “Preparing for Post-Pandemic Recovery”