For the first time UNICEF has launched a domestic emergency response in the UK to help feed children hit by the COVID-19 crisis.
The UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide has likened the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on youngsters to that of the Second World War.
Since the first national lockdown in March, the number of families struggling to make ends meet and access food has grown, as the economy has suffered and vital jobs been lost.
I find this quite shocking. We as a country shouldn't need this kind of aid. Unfortunately it is obvious that we do. My heart goes out to anyone needing this kind of help wherever they live 😢😷
As Corriena has said, it is shocking the children in this country should need this kind of help, but this is nothing new and certainly not wholly as a result of the pandemic. Indeed the spread of the virus and subsequent job losses has worsened the situation but this deprivation and child poverty has been ongoing in certain parts of the country, particularly the North and Midlands, for a very long time without due attention being paid to it except by charities and other humanitarian organisations.
What I do find particularly shocking is that Unicef can only spare £25,000 for a fortnights worth of breakfasts in one area of London only. It's a joke! For years we have been constantly bombarded with pleas on the TV for help for Unicef to help starving children, give clean water etc to the children of the world and all they can come up with is a paltry few quid for our deprived kids in one little area of the country! What about all the foreign aid that has been sent to third world countries in recent years by the taxpayers of this country? What about all the millions that is collected yearly by Save the Children? A succession of governments here have ignored this problem for years and the pandemic has just made it worse. I'm fed up with hearing that Covid is the cause of all our problems when clearly it is not..
Sorry 2greys, not having a dig at you and its a good job that someone puts up posts like this or most of us, as usual, would remain ignorant of what is going on in the background!
The situation of child poverty is and has been with us for some time. The fact of it being highlighted by the additional poverty exposed by Covid factors is what it is...more of the same. The response from UNICEF is very little but if it has the effect of shaming those who can make a difference we must be grateful.
We have supported Woodstreet Mission, woodstreetmission.org.uk/ for many years, and at a cathedral service the Bishop of Manchester commented that it is an utter disgrace that the number of families and children needing support had increased so much in the last decade or so. We are heading back to Victorian times, and in the 6th wealthiest country on earth, perhaps we should ask why.
I tend to think if they are not going to listen to the church they are not going to listen to anyone! I cannot begin to even imagine what state this country is going to be in at the end of this crisis.
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