The Fierce Urgency of Now! Education in Emergency Response to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on a global scale. The number of confirmed cases has spiralled since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus an international publichealth concern on 30 January 2020. WHO, as of 2 April 2020, reports 900,306 confirmed cases in 206 countries, areas or territories, with 45,693 deaths. The global economy has come to a complete standstill, while strict lockdown measures are forcing millions of people around the world to stay at home. This lockdown is causing considerable hardship and disruption everywhere. Yet, the coronavirus crisis likely will most impact 75 million school-aged children and youth, of whom 39 million are girls, and their families who are already marginalised by armed conflict, forced displacement and natural disasters. Barely coping within one crisis, they are now being forced to seek to survive another. Today, there are 31 million children who have been uprooted from their homes, including over 17 million internally displaced, 12.7 million refugees and 1.1 million asylum seekers. Children with disabilities, those in marginalised households or living in abject poverty midst violent conflict, often in remote areas, and girls who are already disadvantaged by their societies, are extremely vulnerable and will likely bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. 1.60 MB