The decision-making regarding the Covid-19 pandemic policy largely ignored young people’s needs, resulting in long-term losses. This is according to findings by a team of researchers of universities from South Africa, Brazil, and the United Kingdom (UK).
These universities are the University of the Free State (UFS) and the University of Fort Hare (South Africa); the University College London, the University of Birmingham, and Nottingham Trent University (UK); and the University of São Paulo (Brazil).
The team of researchers recently conducted a study on the impact of Covid-19 on children and young people, specifically those from disadvantaged households. Their research highlights that the pandemic has deepened existing inequalities, with children and young people’s voices and needs not being considered in policy decisions.
The report, titled “International and National Overviews of the impact of Covid-19 on Education, Food and Play/Leisure and Related Adaptations,” outlines government’s slow action and policy gaps in efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19, have had a negative impact on children and young people’s health and welfare.
Researchers from the UFS include Dr Abraham Matamanda, senior lecturer in the Department of Geography, and Prof. Lochner Marais, head of the UFS Centre for Development Support.
According to Matamanda, the Covid-19 pandemic showed the lack of understanding of what children and young people need in their daily lives.
“During the pandemic, the rights of children and young people, especially play and leisure, accessing adequate food and education, seemed to have been overlooked or least prioritised.
“This was evident from the slow and inconsistent Covid-19 government policies and strategies that failed to acknowledge the networks and value chains through which children and young people are supported. In this way, our research shows the gaps and inequalities created and widened among children and young people in South Africa, especially those from disadvantaged households who have now been left behind and are grappling to adapt in the post-pandemic period,” said Matamanda.
The team made recommendations to ensure that children’s well-being is incorporated into any future pandemic planning. These include:
- More priority and attention given to the hidden voices and experiences of young people, and particularly those from poorer households;
- Greater recognition that schools play an important, central role as life and care hubs; and
- More structured and systemic responses to multiple dimensions of risk from local and national responses are recommended, based on a rigorous assessment of what worked and failed during the pandemic.
