The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of children and their families. Lockdowns, school closures and physical distancing are all having a big impact on children. As the coronavirus has spread, so has misinformation – fueling discrimination and stigma. Globally UNICEF is working with health experts to promote facts over fear, bringing trustworthy guidance to parents, caregivers and educators. Concurrently UNICEF Oman along with the Government of Oman continues to work on issues around children and helping to raise awareness about how families can protect themselves and the precautions they can take against COVID-19.
We spoke to Lana Wreikat, Representative for UNICEF in Oman who shared her views on how the COVID-19 pandemic has established a ‘new normal’ for families and how this crisis can be dealt with a unanimous effort towards betterment of our children. Here are the excerpts…
How did you react to the COVID-19 outbreak?
This outbreak is an unprecedented event in most of our lives. It really has changed, even if just temporarily – the lives of children and their parents in Oman and around the world. What really struck me is how quickly many of us have managed to adapt to a “new normal” – including ways of working that we might not previously have considered as suitable in the Omani context – such as working and learning from home.
What are the challenges you’ve observed during the pandemic?
There have been many challenges along the way. I see many parents have not only had to work from home, but they have also at the same time had to oversee their children’s learning and recreational activities. It has also heartened me to hear about the new bonds’ families have developed by spending quality time together, and taking on new projects and activities together such as baking or cooking.
What are the challenges you’ve observed during the pandemic?
The Government of Oman is in the driving seat of the response. UNICEF’s objective is to ensure the continuation of its country programmes, so we continue to work on issues around child protection, children with disabilities, access to education, and early child development. And, of course, we are helping to raise awareness about how families can protect themselves and the precautions they can take against COVID-19.
What are the challenges you’ve observed during the pandemic?
One of UNICEF main roles has been in aiding the government to develop a parenting campaign for implementation during and after the outbreak. We helped develop messages for the government explaining to parents how to protect their children from the disease such as, and I hope everyone knows this by now, regular handwashing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the virus. The parenting campaign also covers topics like the importance of keeping up to date with your children’s routine vaccination schedule even during the outbreak and advice for new mothers on how to breastfeed their children safely.
What are the challenges you’ve observed during the pandemic?
Yes, we have just launched a social media campaign called #parents4parents. We’re inviting parents to record short videos of themselves and their children sharing tips and experiences of life under lockdown. We wanted to reinforce the idea that we really are all in this together. As the campaign progresses, we’ll be setting fun challenges for parents to do with their children.
We have also joined forces with the Oman Technology Fund to host a COVID-19 Youth Challenge. The aim of the challenge is to support the development of new platforms that will help young people access education, skills-building and employment services.
This is an online challenge and it will take place over the weekend of 12-13 June with winners being announced on 15 June. We have just announced the competition and we will soon be providing more information via our social media channels. Stay tuned!
What are the challenges you’ve observed during the pandemic?
My most important piece of advice is this: when seeking out information to keep yourself, your children and your loved ones safe, make sure you turn to a trusted source. In Oman, the general public should first turn to the advice issued by the Supreme Committee and the Ministry of Health on their official channels. To keep up with more global developments and the latest research, the World Health Organisation’s site is the best place to visit. At UNICEF in Oman, the main way we provide information directly to the public is via our social media channels – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. And the website of UNICEF’s regional office for the Middle East also has an extensive range of multi-media material and resources.