Welcome to Week 1 and Pre-Course Self Assessment

Infectious diseases like COVID-19 disrupt the environments in which children grow and develop. The COVID-19 pandemic affects children in three main ways:

1. Through infection with the virus itself;
2. Through the social and economic impacts of measures (such as control, containment and mitigation) intended to reduce or stop transmission of the virus; and
3. Through the potential longer-term effects of the crisis including economic downturn and a delay of progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (UN 2020).

The measures used to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 have reduced the number of people who have contracted the virus, but they have also disrupted families, friendships, daily routines and wider community dynamics. These have had many harmful consequences for children’s protection, well-being, and development. As countries move past containment, control and mitigation measures, the socio-economic and political impacts of these measures will continue. Reduced economic opportunities, loss of employment and income, disrupted societal- and community-level trust and cohesion, food insecurity, psychosocial distress and other impacts will continue putting children’s well-being and healthy development at risk.

We will start the course by hearing from children themselves their feelings and thoughts during the COVID-19 outbreak. You will begin to think about the stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health measures introduced in your context. We will finish the week by reflecting on the implications of public health measures on child protection service delivery and the overall implications for children and families.

By the end of this week, you should be familiar with:

• How to navigate FutureLearn and connect and engage with other learners;
• How the course is relevant to your own context during COVID-19;
• The dynamic stages of COVID-19, associated public health measures and the impact those may have on child protection service delivery; and
• Child protection concerns that may result from the public health emergency and associated public health measures.

Your Task

Dear Learners,

We would like to invite you all to participate in an optional study. As the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action we strive to deliver effective capacity building initiatives that truly responds to the needs of field practitioners.

To be able to evaluate the effectiveness of this course we would like to encourage all learners to take a quick self-assessment at the beginning and at the end of the course. The self-assessments are not an examination and you cannot pass or fail but they will also help you reflect on your learning as you progress through the course.

Your responses will be linked to your course activity, but you will not be identifiable. Results of pre course and post course self-assessment will be compared and summarised in a report for monitoring and evaluation purposes only. Participating in this exercise will also be useful for The Alliance to justify the need for capacity building initiatives of this kind with our donors in the future hence we would really appreciate your help. All the information collected will be stored and handled according to the Alliance policies.

To take part in the self-assessment, please click on this link

Please note that we will ask you to complete the same self-assessment at the end of the course.

Thank you!

Elena Giannini L&D WG Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action Focal Point