Displaying 31 - 40 of 167
"The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has directed States and union territories to submit data of all children, who have been orphaned or have lost one of their parents to Covid-19," says this article from Big News Network. "The portal, created to digitally monitor and track children in need of care and protection, has been extended for use amid the pandemic under the COVID-Care link."
According to this article from CNN, there are "at least 577 Indian children who lost both parents to Covid between April 1 and May 25, when India was battling its second wave of the outbreak, according to government figures." Other organizations believe that the number could be much higher and fear that many "have been missed in the official count due to the difficulty in tracing children who have lost both parents." Social workers in India "are scrambling to track them down, worried they may be vulnerable to traffickers or end up on the streets if left to fend for themselves."
The plight of so-called "COVID orphans," children who've lost one or both parents to COVID-19, "is one of the heartbreaking pandemic developments to emerge from India, which in May recorded the greatest number of deaths in one country in one month from COVID 19: over 120,000," says this article from NPR. "It's impossible at this time to come up with a realistic count of how many children are affected. But India is making an effort — and struggling to face the many issues that arise for these unfortunate children."
This article from BBC News described how the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated families across India, orphaning many children, and the measures enacted to respond to the needs of these children, including promoting foster care and adoption.
According to this article from Bloomberg, "authorities [in India] are scrambling to get a count of how many children have been abandoned, either because their parents have been hospitalized or died or because the surviving parent isn’t able to care for them." Government officials and NGOs are concerned about trafficking risks for these children.
"Orphaned children are at risk of being trafficked in smaller towns and rural areas where poverty is endemic and police presence minimal, says Jalla Lalithamma, a social activist with the People’s Organization for Rural Development,…
"Researchers now estimate that more than 40,000 children in the United States have lost a parent to Covid-19," says this article from Vox. "Per the estimates, published recently in JAMA Pediatrics, for every 13 people who die of Covid-19 in the US, one person under the age of 18 loses a parent."
"Social media posts appealing for adoption of children orphaned during COVID-19 are illegal, warn experts. They appeal that citizens must dial helpline 1098 to pass on information about children in need of care and protection," says this article from The Hindu. "With deaths due to the COVID-19 on the rise, Twitter and Whatsapp have been flooded with citizens sharing details of children who have lost either both their parents or the only living parent to the disease and pleading for them to be adopted. On Monday, Chairperson Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Anurag Kundu, wrote…
Many children in India have lost parents to the second wave of COVID-19. "Some find themselves in the care of relatives and guardians, others remain alone at hospital emergency rooms and homes not knowing what to do with their parents’ bodies. Some have lost one parent, while others have lost both. Concrete data is unavailable, but child protection authorities say that distress calls about children whose mothers and fathers died of COVID have significantly increase," says this article from Slate. "According to India’s Juvenile Justice…
"During the pandemic, video chats replaced in-person visits between parents and their children placed in foster care" says this article from the Marshall Project. "The effects could linger for years."
According to this article from BBC News, campaign groups in the UK have called attention to the lack of available face-to-face contact for children with parents who are incarcerated, which they say is "crucial in maintaining the relationship between imprisoned parents and children." According to these groups, "the lack of physical contact with their parents has damaged children's mental health and infringed upon their human rights."