In brief
- While most councils and their community partners have considerable experience preparing for and responding to emergencies, the Covid-19 crisis threw up challenges of the like never seen, or imagined, before.
- Turning to children’s rights, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, is one of the most effective ways councils and their partners can protect children and young people from the worst impacts of a crisis.
- The Covid-19 pandemic was not the first emergency to hit cities and communities, and it certainly won’t be the last. As we adjust to the ‘new normal’, councils and their partners should not miss this opportunity to reflect on their emergency response, consider how
integrating children’s rights could have made it stronger, and take steps now to put rights at the heart of resilience arrangements.