Qualitative Research Consultancy On Children's COVID-19 Experiences And Views

1. BACKROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has had huge implications for children's physical, psychological and social wellbeing.

Although they are the age group least likely to suffer the direct health effects of the virus, it is well established that

children are often the worst affected by economic and social crisis as silent victims.

There are three main areas of potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's wellbeing:

(a) Mental health effects. Although they are a low-risk group, some children's health will be negatively affected

either directly through exposure to the virus or indirectly through a reduced access to regular health services. A

much larger group of children will be indirectly affected in terms of care and/or psychosocial wellbeing by health

problems, mental health burden of worry about the situation (e.g. not being in school amongst peers), and mortality

of family members close to them.

(b) Effects of immediate COVID-19 mitigation responses (e.g. lockdown). Children's lives have been affected in

major ways by lockdown restrictions, and school closures in particular, introduced to reduce the spread of

COVID-19. Given their economic dependence on adults, some children can also suffer the effects of income

insecurity and financial stresses as their parents lose jobs during the pandemic, with negative implications for

children's basic needs for food, schooling etc.

(c) Longer-term repercussions. There will be many medium to longer-term repercussions of the immediate

COVID-19 response measures, including a likelihood of the economic downturn and a likelihood of many children

unlikely to return to school when they re-open, but also changes to various aspects of life, such as the way

education is delivered.

2. 2. SCOPE OF WORK

2.1 Goal and Objective:

The proposed research children's experiences and views of COVID-19, and response to it in Lesotho will provide a more detailed insight into the experiences and views of a sample of children and adolescents. The research will

take a qualitative and participative approach. It will aim to understand each child's experience within the broader

context of their lives.

It will seek to involve children throughout the research process, including in the design of the study (where possible), and in the interpretation and dissemination of the findings. The main aim is to inform policy and practice responses to the current crisis and future similar events.

The objective of this consultancy is to support the Lesotho UNICEF Office based in Maseru to carry out this

qualitative research with children and adolescents 19 years old and younger (referred to as children) in Lesotho.

2.2 Activities and Tasks:

The research will include children with different backgrounds in Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), in-depth

interviews and using photovoice. These activities will be performed in-person as a preferred approach, but remote

methods (e.g. phone calls, digital platforms etc.) can be explored depending on restrictions related to COVID-19