UNICEF warns emergence of 'lost covid-19 generation' over pandemic's impact on children

Agencies

November 19, 2020

Geneva, Nov 19: The world risks acquiring a generation of children whose education, nutrition and health have been irreversibly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.

The fund released a report titled "Averting a Lost COVID Generation" ahead of the World Children's Day on November 20.

"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a persistent myth that children are barely affected by the disease. Nothing could be further from the truth ... While children can get sick and can spread the disease, this is just the tip of the pandemic iceberg. Disruptions to key services and soaring poverty rates pose the biggest threat to children. The longer the crisis persists, the deeper its impact on children's education, health, nutrition and well-being. The future of an entire generation is at risk," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said, as quoted in a press release to the report.

According to the report, one in nine coronavirus cases in 87 countries were confirmed in children and adolescents under 20 years of age, or 11 per cent of all 25.7 million cases reported by these countries.
Meanwhile, school closures have affected 572 million children worldwide, or 33 per cent, according to the report.

UNICEF has argued against school closures, saying that schools are not the main driver of community transmission and that children are more likely to get infected outside school settings, with the net benefit of keeping schools open with basic safety measures in place outweighing the costs of closing them.

Furthermore, the report documented a 40-per cent decline in the coverage of nutrition services for women and children across 135 countries, with 265 million children still missing out on school meals globally.

Yet, the most serious threat to children is associated with COVID-19-related disruptions to critical health and social services, according to the report. Fear of infection was the reason of drop in coverage of health services such as routine vaccinations, outpatient care for childhood infectious diseases, and maternal health services across in around one-third of 140 countries reviewed by UNICEF.

The agency provided a six-point list of recommendations to governments and the private sector, urging them to prioritize the needs of children.

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In meeting with Zohran Mamdani, Trump repeats claim he stopped India-Pak war

Agencies

November 22,2025

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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