Welcome to the Course—Protecting Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Welcome to ‘Protecting Children During COVID-19’, a six-week course developed by the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (The Alliance) in partnership with its members. The course is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development’s: Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration as well as funding from OAK Foundation. The contents are the responsibility of the Alliance and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government and Oak Foundation.

To enable live learning though the COVID-19 pandemic, the course will open a week at a time. The course is being developed during the current emergency and we will benefit from ‘real-time’ learning and sharing as we navigate the pandemic together.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the environments in which we live, resulting in significant challenges. Specific efforts are required to support children in need of care and protection, as well as their families, caregivers and the workers and services that support them. COVID-19 has further exacerbated the situation of children, parents and caregivers who already facing extremely adverse circumstances, including those in diverse humanitarian contexts.

Many frontline child protection professionals across the globe, such as yourself, are rising to the challenge and finding creative ways to continue to support children, families and communities in an ever-changing context as we move through the different stages of the COVID-19 cycle.

This course is based on resources developed by the Alliance to support child protection practitioners to provide child protection continuity through the stages of COVID-19. You will have the opportunity to adapt learning to your own context and to reflect and share together with other practitioners in a safe co-learning experience where sharing ideas is at the core of everyone’s learning.

For many, navigating work and life during this public health crisis has not been easy. Remember, your well-being comes first. If you feel overwhelmed, we encourage you to take care of your well-being and seek support. You can find some resources in the additional reading section below.

We’re very pleased to welcome all of you and look forward to the diverse and exciting discussions that will be generated.

Your Task

Taking care of your own well-being is important. Do you have one useful resource or tip on supporting your self-care and well-being? If so, please share it in the comment box below.