Public Health

This brief provides evidence of the different ways in which women’s rights organizations have been affected by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, highlighting the predicament that many of them face of increased relevance and demand at the same time as civic closure, restrictive work conditions, and diminishing funding. By showcasing the critical roles these organizations are playing in the context of the pandemic as essential service providers, advocates, and watchdogs, this brief also identifies a set of recommendations to strengthen them in the immediate term and pave the way for a more equal post-COVID future.

Over the past decades, universal basic income (UBI) has repeatedly been put forward as a means to address increasing labour market precarity, jobless growth, and rising poverty and inequality. Most recently, proponents have argued that UBI could provide much-needed protection in the face of economic, environmental, and health crises, such as COVID-19 (coronavirus). The implications of UBI for gender equality have received insufficient attention in these debates, despite the fact that feminists have long discussed its pros and cons. Some feminists hold that an unconditional income independent of paid work would enhance women’s agency in families, households, the workplace, and the community, with particular benefit for those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. Others caution that, in a climate of fiscal tightening and austerity, UBI could be used to justify the rollback of state responsibility and funding for other essential support measures, including care services, housing, education, and health care. Building on their contributions, this policy brief discusses the potential and limitations of UBI from a gender perspective and points to some of the specific design features that policymakers need to consider to make UBI work for women and transgender and gender-diverse people.

This research brief is one of a series of five briefs, which provide an overview of available evidence shown in the Campbell-UNICEF Mega-Map of the effectiveness of interventions to improve child well-being in low- and middle-income countries. These briefs summarize evidence as mapped against the five goal areas of UNICEF’s 2018–2021 Strategic Plan, although it is anticipated that they will also be useful for others working in the child well-being space.

This brief summarizes the key findings and observations from a report on the remote learning options – be it online, television, radio, paper- or mobile-based – that countries around the world have made available for pre-primary students and their families while schools are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report was informed by the joint UNESCO-UNICEF-World Bank survey of national education responses to COVID-19 and emerging good practices from 10 country case studies.

This research brief is one of a series of five briefs, which provide an overview of available evidence shown in the Campbell-UNICEF Mega-Map of the effectiveness of interventions to improve child well-being in low- and middle-income countries. These briefs summarize evidence as mapped against the five goal areas of UNICEF’s 2018–2021 Strategic Plan, although it is anticipated that they will also be useful for others working in the child well-being space.

Financing has emerged as a key challenge in SDG implementation. Yet, a recent study found that 79 out of 107 national sustainable development plans are not costed. Integrated national financing frameworks (INFFs) can help countries to close this gap. They help countries raise resources, enhance coherence of financing policies, and overcome short-termism in budgeting and the financial sector. INFFs can also help countries recover from COVID-19 (coronavirus) and its economic fallout, finance building back better, and manage risks. Interest in INFFs has grown exponentially since the concept was introduced in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda—around 60 countries have committed to design and implement integrated financing frameworks with support from the UN system.

Governments are highly dependent on all data including official statistics, administrative data, open data and big data analytics for decision-making and actions to address the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. These data allow governments to set priorities and adjust their decisions quickly and effectively in response to rapidly evolving COVID-19 situations. Open data and big data analytics, particularly through Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms and data visualization tools, are empowering governments to predict virus mutations, track virus spread in real-time, and identify medications for treating COVID-19. Governments are using big data analytics to get prepared, react effectively, and develop both short-term and long-term strategies. Yet, increasing public concerns about data privacy and security put in jeopardy public trust in data collection, use and dissemination by government, business and relevant non-government institutions. To ensure effective use of open data and big data analytics for combatting COVID-19, it is necessary to strengthen data governance with regard to data collection, data partnership, data analysis, data dissemination, and protection of data privacy and data security.

Central banks have relied heavily on unconventional monetary policy tools, especially large-scale asset purchases, to respond to the pandemic. These programmes have helped to stabilize financial markets and kickstart economic recovery. But the central bank asset purchases have also contributed to an underpricing of risk and sharp increases in asset prices.

This review study was a first attempt to map the existing theoretical and empirical literature about a possible core capacity for well-being: listening. The main research question was: drawing from a multidisciplinary evidence base, what is the empirical and theoretical knowledge of children’s listening and how does it interact with overall well-being throughout childhood? Moreover, the review of the literature will contribute to the understanding of listening as a core capacity for well-being within the Learning for Well-Being framework. The review included systematic searches in four electronic databases and a selection of studies based on pre-set criteria. It focuses on the development of listening throughout childhood, listening in formal and informal learning, listening in family and community settings, and possible links between listening and well-being. Relevant empirical studies were identified that further explain the development of listening comprehension throughout childhood. Relevant streams of literature identified included listening to music and positive effects on child well-being, children’s extensive listening in schools, and the effects of undesirable listening environments. Overall, in combination with the mapping papers on the eight other core capacities, this paper can contribute to the understanding of core capacities possibly benefiting child well-being.

Reflecting, or thinking about one’s own thinking, is understood by the Learning for Well-Being Foundation as one of the possible core capacities which may influence well-being in children. This study explores the academic literature for theoretical and empirical evidence in support of this conceptualization. Drawing from a multidisciplinary evidence base, what is the empirical and theoretical evidence of children’s reflecting and how does it interact with overall well-being throughout childhood? The objectives of the review are to map the evidence of the development of reflecting in children, describe possible gaps in the literature and search whether any studies explore reflecting as a core capacity, or study the relationship between reflecting and child well-being. In doing so this paper focuses on the possibly diverse development of the core capacity in children, on the capacity in parents, teachers and other caregivers and the role they play in the development of the core capacity, and on the evidence from the academic literature.