Child rights ‘often overlooked’ during COVID
The Ombudsman for Children has told the independent panel examining the State’s response to COVID-19 that children suffered disproportionately as a result of measures implemented by the State during the pandemic.
Dr Niall Muldoon told the panel that children’s rights were often overlooked.
He said that the closure of schools for prolonged periods in 2020 and 2021, shutting down playgrounds and play facilities, the cancellation of sports and other activities, and restrictions on movement, among other measures, significantly disrupted children’s lives.
Children ‘suffered immensely’
A Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) carried out by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) in 2021 found that school closures affected a child’s right to education, the highest attainable standard of health and mental health, protection from harm and abuse, and the right to engage in play.
In a statement on his appearance before the panel, Dr Muldoon said that it was essential that the impact of COVID restrictions on children was put on the record to guide any future decision-making in “highly volatile and evolving situations”.
“There is no doubt that children suffered immensely as a result of the measures put in place during this time, particularly those children who were already vulnerable,” he added.
Mental-health effects
The children’s ombudsman said that, as health measures began taking effect, there were “opportunities along the way” where children’s rights “could and should have been considered”.
“I believe, as I did then, that the State did not give sufficient attention to children and their rights when making decisions that impacted them, causing them to experience negative effects on their physical and mental health, with an increase in children seeking acute mental-health care during the pandemic,” Dr Muldoon states.
He called for the inclusion of an expert on children’s rights in any emergency structures set up during crisis situations.
Dr Muldoon also told the panel that “fully and directly” incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into domestic law could better protect children’s rights by ensuring that those rights were always considered at the decision-making table.