No better time to create lasting change for children in Australia
COVID-19 is fundamentally changing our world. For no one is this more true than children.
The COVID-19 crisis is transforming the environments within which children grow, learn and develop – in families and communities, in the systems supporting children’s safety and wellbeing, and across all of society. It is children who will be most exposed to COVID-19’s long-term economic and social consequences and effects on individual wellbeing – for better and for worse.
We are now at a pivotal point. We can emerge from this crisis a stronger, fairer and more resilient society – one in which all children are included, valued and heard.
We have the chance to create systemic change in how we relate to some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Right now, by centering children’s rights, we can lay the foundation for more resilient communities and a stronger, fairer society – today and into the future.
Save the Children believes this change is possible. That belief underpins our vision for Australia’s future. We can and must build back better from this crisis. We believe this aspiration should be at the heart of Australia’s COVID-19 response and recovery plan.
What is needed?
Save the Children is calling for urgent action by Australian governments, working in partnership with the Australian community, to address COVID-19’s impacts on children. This will mean rethinking the type of society we want to be, and believing that we can build back better from this crisis. It will mean placing children’s rights at the centre of policy, service delivery and investment decisions affecting their futures.
We must prioritise keeping children learning, safe and developmentally on track, and establishing support structures for families and communities.
We should pay special attention to children who were already disadvantaged or are particularly at risk, such as those living in poverty or who have also experienced major bushfires and other disasters.
And we should act on the knowledge that children are resilient and have much to contribute, by supporting children’s voices to be heard throughout society’s response to the pandemic.
We must act now to protect a generation.
Save the Children's call to action
Click
here to read our full call to action.