By Gabriel Ewepu, Abuja

A United Nations,UN, report has shown after three years of the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic and climate change had grave impact on women, children and adolescents’ health globally.

According to data presented in the report, there is a critical regression across virtually every measure of childhood wellbeing, and many key indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Since the last ‘Every Woman Every Child Progress Report’ published in 2020, food insecurity, hunger, child marriage, risks from intimate partner violence, and adolescent depression and anxiety have all increased.

The report titled ‘Protect the Promise’, indicated that an estimated 25 million children were “un- or under-vaccinated in 2021 – 6 million more than in 2019 – increasing their risk of contracting deadly and debilitating diseases.

The six countries with the highest numbers of internally displaced persons – Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen – are also among the top 10 food insecure countries.

A woman in sub-Saharan Africa has around a 130 times higher risk of dying from causes relating to pregnancy or childbirth than a woman in Europe or North America. Coverage of antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, and postnatal care is far from reaching all women in low- and middle- income countries, leaving them at elevated risk of death and disability.

“Millions of children missed out on school during the pandemic, many for more than a year, while approximately 80 per cent of children in 104 countries and territories experienced learning-loss because of school closures. Since the start of the global pandemic, 10.5 million children lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19.”

Speaking on the title of the report ‘Protect the Promise’, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said, “At the core of our unkept promise is the failure to address the gaping inequities at the root of global crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic to conflicts and the climate emergency.

“The report describes the impacts of these crises on women, children and adolescents, from maternal mortality to education losses to severe malnutrition.”

The report provides wide-ranging evidence that children and adolescents face wildly divergent chances of leading a healthy life simply based on where they are born, their exposure to conflict, and the economic circumstances of their families.

The Director General, World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said, “Almost three years on from the onset of COVID-19, the pandemic’s long-term impact on the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents is becoming evident: their chances for healthy and productive lives have declined sharply.

“As the world emerges from the pandemic, protecting and promoting the health of women, children and young people is essential for supporting and sustaining the global recovery.”

UNICEF Executive Catherine Russell, said, “The impacts of COVID-19, conflicts, and climate crises have raised the stakes for vulnerable communities, revealing the weaknesses and inequities in health care systems and reversing hard-won progress for women, children, and adolescents – but we are not powerless to change this.

“By investing in resilient, inclusive primary health care systems, jumpstarting routine immunization programmes, and strengthening the health workforce, we can make sure that every woman and every child can access the care they need to survive and thrive.”

H.E. Ms. Kersti Kaljulaid, Global Advocate for Every Woman Every Child and President of the Republic of Estonia, 2016-2021, said, “There is a crisis of inequity that is piling on already increasing and compounding threats. In a world where too many children, adolescents and women are dying, equity, empowerment and access are what needs urgent focus.

“We are calling on all to think and act broadly and profoundly to protect the promise. This promise refers not only to the commitments made in the Sustainable Development Goals, and all of the campaigns that followed, but also to the larger promise of potential that everyone is born with. Too often this promise remains unclaimed, or even denied.”

UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem, said, “In the face of increasing political pushback against sexual and reproductive health and rights in many countries, women, children and adolescents today are left without many of the protections of just a decade ago, and many others still have not seen the progress they need.

“Access to sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception, is a fundamental right that directly and acutely affects the ability of women and adolescent girls to thrive. We need to expand these rights and services to the most marginalized, leaving no one behind.”

Board Chair of the he Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, PMNCH Rt. Hon Helen Clark, and former Prime Minister of New Zealand, “The report advocates for countries to continue investing in health services, in all crises, and to re-imagine health systems that can truly reach every woman, child, and adolescent, no matter who they are or where they live.”