COVID:19 Scale of education loss ‘nearly insurmountable’, warns UNICEF

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, January 25,  2022: More than 635 million students remain affected by full or partial school closures. On the International Day of Education and as the COVID-19 pandemic nears its two-year mark, UNICEF shares the latest available data on the impact of the pandemic on children’s learning.

“In March, we will mark two years of COVID-19-related disruptions to global education. Quite simply, we are looking at a nearly insurmountable scale of loss to children’s schooling,” said Robert Jenkins, UNICEF Chief of Education. “While the disruptions to learning must end, just reopening schools is not enough. Students need intensive support to recover from lost education. Schools must also go beyond places of learning to rebuild children’s mental and physical health, social development, and nutrition.”

Children have lost basic numeracy and literacy skills. Globally, disruption to education has meant millions of children have significantly missed out on the academic learning they would have acquired if they had been in the classroom, with younger and more marginalized children facing the greatest loss.

 

·        In low- and middle-income countries, learning losses to school closures have left up to 70 percent of 10-year-olds unable to read or understand a simple text, up from 53 percent pre-pandemic.

·        In Ethiopia, primary school children are estimated to have learned between 30 to 40 percent of the math they would have learned if it had been a normal school year.

·        In the US, learning losses have been observed in many states including Texas, California, Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Maryland. In Texas, for example, two-thirds of children in grade 3 tested below their grade level in math in 2021, compared to half of the children in 2019.
 

·        In several Brazilian states, around 3 in 4 children in grade 2 are off-track in reading, up from 1 in 2 children pre-pandemic. Across Brazil, 1 in 10 students aged 10-15 reported they are not planning to return to school once their schools reopen. 

·        In South Africa, schoolchildren are between 75 percent and a full school year behind where they should be. Some 400,000 to 500,000 students reportedly dropped out of school altogether between March 2020 and July 2021.

Follow-on consequences of school closures are on the rise. In addition to learning loss, school closures have impacted children’s mental health, reduced their access to a regular source of nutrition, and increased their risk of abuse.

 

• A growing body of evidence shows that COVID-19 has caused high rates of anxiety and depression among children and young people, with some studies finding that girls, adolescents, and those living in rural areas are most likely to experience these problems.

 

• More than 370 million children globally missed out on school meals during school closures, losing what is for some children the only reliable source of food and daily nutrition.

 

 

 

 

Franco-German Friendship Day in Islamabad

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, January 24,  2022: 22 January 2022 marks the second anniversary of the Treaty of Aachen which raises the Franco-German partnership to a new level of closer cooperation and enriching friendship.

This new chapter is based on all the constructive developments resulting from the Elysée Treaty signed in January 1963 between Chancellor Adenauer and General De Gaulle, a founding text that sealed reconciliation after the Second World War. To commemorate this historic event, the German and French embassies in Pakistan meet for a luncheon with the recreated menu of 1963 originally served on the occasion of the signing of the treaty at Elysée Palace.

It is an opportunity to pay tribute to the countless citizens, students, political leaders, and civil society activists who over the decades have been building the foundation of the strong and vibrant Franco-German friendship we see today. Thanks to their unceasing effort, people, regions, cities, schools, and universities on both sides are closer today than ever before.

Within the European Union, France and Germany have been a major driving force strengthening peace, solidarity, and cohesion through a multitude of joint initiatives.   These values are very much in line with the program of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2022: a more sovereign Europe, a new European model of growth, and a human-oriented Europe.

 

 

 

 

THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EDUCATION

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, January 24,  2022: The UNSG His Excellency Antonio Guterres sent today the following message of The International Day of Education:

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused chaos in education worldwide.

Some 1.6 billion school and college students had their studies interrupted at the peak of the pandemic -- and it’s not over yet.

Today, school closures continue to disrupt the lives of over 31 million students, exacerbating a global learning crisis.

Unless we take action, the share of children leaving school in developing countries who are unable to read could increase from 53 to 70 percent.

But the turmoil in education goes beyond questions of access and inequality.

Our world is changing at a dizzying pace, with technological innovation, unprecedented changes in the world of work, the onset of the climate emergency, and a widespread loss of trust between people and institutions. 

Conventional education systems are struggling to deliver the knowledge, skills, and values we need to create a greener, better and safer future for all.

Education is a preeminent public good and an essential enabler for the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The international community cannot afford to be agnostic about its provision, quality, and relevance.

That is why I am convening a Summit on Transforming Education later this year.

The time has come to reignite our collective commitment to education.

That means investing in comprehensive plans to help students recover from learning losses.

It means putting education at the heart of broader recovery efforts, aimed at transforming economies and societies and accelerating progress on sustainable development.

It means financial solidarity with developing countries.

And it means embarking on a process of reflection and analysis to identify how national education systems can evolve and transform between now and 2030.

The Summit on Transforming Education will be the first time that world leaders, young people, and all education stakeholders come together to consider these fundamental questions.

On this International Day of Education, and as we prepare for the Summit later this year, I call on everyone to unite around education as a public good and a top political priority for the recovery and beyond.

 

 

 

 

ILO downgrades labor market recovery forecast for 2022

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, January 20,  2022: The ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2022 report warn of a slow and uncertain recovery, as the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on global labor markets.

GENEVA (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization (ILO) has downgraded its forecast for labor market recovery in 2022, projecting a deficit in hours worked globally equivalent to 52 million full-time jobs, relative to the fourth quarter of 2019. The previous full-year estimate in May 2021 projected a deficit of 26 million full-time equivalent jobs.

While this latest projection is an improvement on the situation in 2021, it remains almost two percent below the number of global hours worked pre-pandemic, according to the ILO World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2022  (WESO Trends).

Global unemployment is expected to remain above pre-COVID-19 levels until at least 2023. The 2022 level is estimated at 207 million, compared to 186 million in 2019. The ILO’s report also cautions that the overall impact on employment is significantly greater than represented in these figures because many people have left the labor force. In 2022, the global labor force participation rate is projected to remain 1.2 percentage points below that of 2019.

The downgrade in the 2022 forecast reflects, to some extent, the impact that recent variants of COVID-19, such as Delta and Omicron, are having on the world of work, as well as significant uncertainty regarding the future course of the pandemic.

The WESO Trends report warns of the stark differences in the impact the crisis is having across groups of workers and countries. These differences are deepening inequalities within and among countries and weakening the economic, financial, and social fabric of almost every nation, regardless of development status. This damage is likely to require years to repair, with potential long-term consequences for labor force participation, household incomes, and social and – possibly – political cohesion.

The effects are being felt in labor markets in all regions of the world, although a great divergence in recovery patterns can be observed. The European and the North American regions are showing the most encouraging signs of recovery, while South-East Asia Latin America, and the Caribbean have the most negative outlook. At the national level, labor market recovery is strongest in high-income countries, while lower-middle-income economies are faring worst.

The disproportionate impact of the crisis on women’s employment is expected to last in the coming years, the report says. While the closing of education and training institutions “will have cascading long-term implications” for young people, particularly those without internet access.

“Two years into this crisis, the outlook remains fragile and the path to recovery is slow and uncertain,” said ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder. “We are already seeing potentially lasting damage to labor markets, along with concerning increases in poverty and inequality. Many workers are being required to shift to new types of work – for example in response to the prolonged slump in international travel and tourism.”

“There can be no real recovery from this pandemic without a broad-based labor market recovery. And to be sustainable, this recovery must be based on the principles of decent work – including health and safety, equity, social protection, and social dialogue.”

The WESO Trends includes comprehensive labor market projections for 2022 and 2023. It gives assessments of how labor market recovery has unfolded worldwide, reflecting different national approaches to pandemic recovery and analyzing the effects on different groups of workers and economic sectors.

The ILO report shows that, as in previous crises, temporary employment created a buffer against the shock of the pandemic for some. While many temporary jobs were terminated or not renewed, alternative ones were created, including for workers who had lost permanent jobs. On average, the incidence of temporary work did not change.

The WESO Trends also offers a summary of key policy recommendations aimed at creating a fully inclusive, human-centered recovery from the crisis at both national and international levels. These are based on the Global Call to Action for a Human-Centred Recovery from the COVID-19 Crisis that Is Inclusive, Sustainable and Resilient, which was adopted by the ILO’s 187 Member States in June 2021.

 

 

 

 7^th International OIC-IPHRC Seminar on Corruption and Human Rights

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, January 7,  2022:  6-7 January 2022, Islamabad. Foreign Minister inaugurates the International Seminar on Corruption and Human Rights, jointly organized by the Government of Pakistan and the OIC IPHRC

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi inaugurated, today, the two-day International Seminar on the theme of “Combating Corruption – A Prerequisite for the full enjoyment of all Human Rights and Sustainable Development.” The International Seminar is being jointly organized by the Government of Pakistan and the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in collaboration with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

In his key-note address, the Foreign Minister highlighted the efforts of the Government of Pakistan in combating corruption, especially illicit financial flows as well as promotion and protection of all human rights. He underlined that inclusive and sustainable development was not possible unless transparency and accountability were ensured. The Foreign Minister presented an actionable way forward for the OIC group in curbing corruption and realizing the human rights agenda including through the creation of an inter-governmental committee, establishment of an OIC protocol and mechanism for mutual legal assistance, reviewing unequal investment treaties, and formation of a global beneficial ownership registry.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (through a recorded message), Assistant Secretary-General of OIC, and the IPHRC Chairperson also delivered remarks during the opening segment. More than 200 international and national stakeholders including Government officials, OIC Member and Observer States, IPHRC Commissioners, and representatives of the OIC Secretariat, United Nations, practitioners, academia, and civil society are participating in the International Seminar.

Throughout the day, interactive discussions shall be held amongst the international and national participants, based on which a “Declaration” would be adopted at the closing session on 7 January 2022.

The International Seminar reflects Pakistan’s leadership role and commitment in the context of combating corruption and promotion of the human rights agenda, in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision.