What's at stake for children in the election?

Season 3, episode 8 

What's at stake for children in the election?

Canadians are heading to the polls in a historic federal election amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore what this election means for children here at home and internationally while empowering you to raise your voice for children and youth by getting involved in the #VoteforEveryChild campaign.

Producer: Victoria Ptashnick

Composed and Mixed by: Chandra Bulucon

Episode Transcript: 

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[00:00:07.19] Hello, for every child podcast listeners. And welcome to our September episode. With a federal election upon us, Canadians will soon be heading to the polls with some important choices to make. In this episode, we ask the question, what's at stake for children and youth in this election. Stay tuned to hear the answer that has consequences for children here at home and abroad in places like Afghanistan. Here we go.

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[00:00:45.57] On September 20th, millions of Canadians will cast their ballots in the upcoming federal election. After an extraordinary year and a half, this election is an opportunity for Canadians voices to be heard on a variety of issues that matter deeply to us as a country.

[00:01:02.58] But during this election, there will be 8 million voices that will go unheard, unable to advocate for what matters most to them. These voices make up roughly a quarter of the Canadian population. And the outcomes of this election will impact them greatly, despite them having no say in the result.

[00:01:24.60] Those voices are the voices of children and youth in Canada. Those who are too young to vote. To help us better understand what's at stake for them and how we can use our ballots to make the world a better place for them, we have a UNICEF Canada expert on these issues with us today.

[00:01:44.16] Terrance Hamilton is a domestic policy specialist at UNICEF Canada. And he's been exploring the impact of the pandemic on children and youth in Canada. Hi, Terrence, thanks for joining us.

[00:01:57.48] Hi, David, thanks for having me.

[00:01:59.74] It's been a challenging last year and a half for everyone. But children have faced some unique changes and difficulties during the pandemic. They've had their lives upended with school disruptions living in isolation and being separated from their peers to name just a few. What issues around child and youth well-being should we be aware of going into this election given these unprecedented circumstances?

[00:02:26.04] Yeah, so when it comes to young people, it's really important, David to take the long view. I know that's not usually what the media or political parties, like to talk about in elections that happen every two to four years. But really it is the long term future of young people that is what's at stake, especially in this particular election.

[00:02:44.88] So after the pandemic that just-- that we all just lived through, all of our lives were interrupted obviously by some of the mitigation measures that were implemented. But the question that we ask when it comes to young people is what effect will those interruptions have in two years, five years, even 10 years down the road. So we know that 18 months is a long time for anybody but the scale of childhood really amplifies that.

[00:03:10.82] So if you take me and my son, for example. Misha was born in November 2018. We both just spent 18 months in a pandemic, that's about 1/20th, 1/25th of my lifetime but it's almost 3/5 of his. So he couldn't even walk in March 2020 when the pandemic started. Now he's walking, talking telling me what to do half the time.

[00:03:34.79] So, obviously it's important for us to think about all of the developmental milestones that have occurred for children while in lockdown and what it means for them long term. We know that disruptions to childhood echo for years and even decades into the future and we call that the long tail of crisis like this. So what we don't have all the data yet to know what the true impact of the pandemic on young people's future is going to be, some of the early results are extremely concerning.

[00:04:00.28] One OECD study that came out recently suggests that school closures have already cost students in grades 1 through 12 up to 3% of their lifelong-- lifetime earnings. And other estimates have fourth graders that up to 8-- up to eight months behind on reading and arithmetic skills. And we also know that those challenges are not equally distributed across society and there are children who are living in households experiencing poverty, racialized children, and others who are already disadvantaged before the pandemic. We're going to need additional supports to get back to where they were before.

[00:04:34.25] Perhaps, the most concerning study I've seen recently is some research that came out of sick kids hospital just last week that showed that across six domains of mental health being depression, anxiety, irritability, attention span, hyperactivity, and obsession compulsion, up to 70% of school aged children in 66% of preschool aged children reported deterioration in at least one domain of mental health. So I think we can say for sure that the alarm bells should be ringing.

[00:05:04.17] Wow! That is alarming. UNICEF has created the vote for every child campaign to amplify the voices of young people in the election and to encourage voters to cast their ballots with child rights in mind. Can you explain what the campaign is about and how people can get involved?

[00:05:23.55] Yes, so exactly that. What we're trying to do with UNICEF is to vote for every child campaign is to platform young people, get their voices heard on the issues that matter to them during the election. And in particular to tell candidates and the political parties that they represent that they need a serious plan to address the multiple issues facing children and youth coming out of the pandemic.

[00:05:46.15] Supporters can go to the campaign website at unicef.ca/voteforeverychild. We'll put that link in the description. And on that website, you'll be able to send a customizable letter to the candidates in your writing. You can download window signs and a brochure just for conversation with the candidates that come to your door. And you can learn more about the specific policies that we're advocating for in this election.

[00:06:08.58] And of course, we encourage everybody to share the hashtag, #voteforeverychild across their social media platforms.

[00:06:14.77] Thank you, Terence.

[00:06:16.17] Thanks, David.

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[00:06:20.13] Unfortunately, some of the challenges that children and youth in Canada have faced during the pandemic aren't unique to just Canada. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a world of crisis that has worsened global inequities in child rights and eroded hard won progress on child survival, access to education, health, nutrition and protection, and reducing discrimination.

[00:06:47.43] The choices Canadians will make going to the polls will also have significant impact on children in other parts of the world. And to tell us about that, we have with us, Annie Bodmer-Roy, UNICEF Canada's director of international policy and programs. Welcome, Annie.

[00:07:05.79] Hi, David! Thanks for having me.

[00:07:07.63] What is at stake globally for children in this election?

[00:07:11.17] Well just like we've seen here in Canada and the extent to which COVID-19 has impacted on children's rights here in Canada, we've seen devastating impact on children's rights internationally. The pandemic over the past, over a year and a half now has uncovered existing inequalities that are faced by children and youth around the world.

[00:07:30.52] So whether that's girls who face gender based discrimination, refugees, and internally displaced people who are facing discrimination based on their legal status, ethnic and minority groups. There is a lot of existing inequality that has really been uncovered through this pandemic and actually has been made worse by it. So that's been a significant concern for us.

[00:07:52.65] And as a child focused organization working across Canada and internationally of over 190 countries globally, we are really alarmed at the state of play of children's rights today around the world. This specific issues that we've been looking at are for example, the increase in children who have been left hungry, those who have been isolated at home with lockdown measures and faced increases in domestic violence, and gender based violence, we're also looking at hundreds of millions of children who have missed out on quality education and many of whom are still out of school now.

[00:08:28.68] Even as in Canada, there are a lot of children now. Thankfully, including my own and I know many parents breathing a sigh of relief here. But that's actually not the case in a lot of countries where children continue to miss out on being able to go to school.

[00:08:42.79] So there's been a huge range of issues across child survival, children's learning and development and also their mental health. And education for example that I just mentioned, there was an existing learning crisis globally where there were a lot of children out of school before the pandemic, particularly girls and refugees, and children in conflict contexts were the ones who are most likely to miss out before the pandemic. And many children who were in school were not accessing quality education.

[00:09:11.79] So the degree to which they were learning for example literacy and numeracy, and social, and emotional skills that was very much a concern to UNICEF before the pandemic. And what we've seen with COVID-19 is over a billion children out of school over the course of the pandemic. And really just exacerbating that learning crisis whereby.

[00:09:33.81] Now, over half of all children impacted by the crisis are still out of school. In particular, within that group we're very concerned about girls access to education. Girls as in other emergencies that UNICEF has responded to over the years globally. Girls have been particularly at high risk of never returning to the classroom. We saw this in ebola we are seeing this again now.

[00:10:00.51] So that's really a significant concern for us in terms of education. And it's important that Canadians remember that just as our kids are going back to school here, every parent around the world wants the same thing for their children. And children themselves have asked us for that repeatedly. In many emergency scenarios that I have worked in and children that I have met with around the world who have been displaced from their homes who have been-- have seen their schools closed because of pandemics and conflict and displacement and climate crisis, they want to go back to school almost more than they want anything else. And we really need to be listening to them on that. So what we're seeing is that COVID-19 has really eroded the progress that we've seen in areas that we fought for really hard as UNICEF around the world, child survival, access to education, health, nutrition, protection, and also discrimination where we have seen this be particularly acute is in humanitarian contexts where COVID-19 has manifested as an overlapping crisis on top of what's already been in place.

[00:11:06.67] So we-- we're looking at humanitarian emergencies, where we are seeing disasters, conflict, climate crisis, displacement, and then COVID-19 coming on top of that and making an already horrific situation even worse for some of the world's most vulnerable children.

[00:11:22.47] What about children in emergencies such as girls in Afghanistan? What's at stake for them?

[00:11:29.22] Even before the events of the past few weeks, Afghanistan was already one of the toughest places in the world to be a child. Looking at the situation from here in Canada and the extent to which the situation in Afghanistan is garnering attention during the current election period, one of the things that is really critical that we all keep in mind is the level of desperation that is still occurring in Afghanistan now.

[00:11:57.15] There's been a lot of attention and rightly so, on the immediate need for evacuations. As UNICEF continues to maintain its presence and maintain its operations in Afghanistan, we are also looking at the situation inside the country and for those who have not been evacuated.

[00:12:14.61] And this is really-- because there is the acute crisis that's playing out there that is not only the result of the past several weeks, but also because, there is this very much deadly combination of climate, conflict, instability, displacement, and of course, the pandemic, all colliding together to create what is an unprecedented and devastating humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan.

[00:12:38.58] The reality is right now. Around 10 million children across Afghanistan need humanitarian assistance just to survive. UNICEF is present throughout the country and our teams are working flat out to be able to reach children in need and that includes girls.

[00:12:57.55] Looking at girls in particular. We've made a huge amount of progress. And that's one of the areas that we're really pushing as hard as we can to make sure that not only do we maintain that progress, but we continue to grow and build on it, instead of rolling back.

[00:13:11.50] School enrollment for example, has seen a tenfold increase from going from 1 million children in 2001 to 10 million children today. And whereas previously, the vast majority of children in school were boys. Now, there are nearly 4 million girls enrolled as well and that's really tremendous progress. And it's something that we are immensely proud of the work that we've been doing together with our partners on that front.

[00:13:36.61] But there's also no time to be complacent because we need to ensure that those gains are preserved and that this progress continues. There is a lot more work that we need to continue to do. As Canadians, look at Afghanistan as an issue unfolding during the Canadian federal election, really look at the area that Canada has invested in previously.

[00:13:59.98] Over the past number of years, Canada has really built up a legacy of investing in education, particularly for girls and for those displaced by conflict and crisis. Afghanistan is a context where girls need to have continued access to quality education and where there is an ongoing displacement crisis and those children require access to education.

[00:14:21.88] In the case of Afghanistan as in other contexts, we are seeing shortfalls education funding that are hampering things like teacher salaries, being able to be paid and maintenance of existing schools Infrastructure. Those areas need to be invested in and need to really happen in a way that minimizes disruption to children's education. So that the vital gains that we've made over the past 20 years for the children of Afghanistan, really are can we continue to build on that momentum and we don't lose that whole area of progress.

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[00:14:59.08] As you've heard, the pandemic has uncovered and exacerbated existing inequalities faced by children and youth here in Canada and around the world. With inequalities deepening and children's futures at risk, this moment calls for nothing less than a dedicated focus by the next government of Canada to reimagine a better world as we move past the current pandemic.

[00:15:23.20] Canada must also act to ensure that no child is left behind and you can play a part in that. The Federal Election is your chance to stand with children everywhere and champion those policies when politicians ask for your vote. The children and youth of today are already becoming the leaders of tomorrow. With the proper support, children and youth can ensure an inclusive just Canada where no one is left behind.

[00:15:52.75] if you'd like to learn more about how you can support the vote for every child campaign, please visit our website at unicef.ca/voteforeverychild. That brings us to the end of our episode. Thanks for listening.

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