Researching the Impact of School Closures on Children in Humanitarian Settings: A Multi-Country Study

Participatory Research in Three Countries: Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Lebanon 

Goal: To better ensure that children are at the centre of planning processes during infectious disease outbreaks.

Key Research Questions: In humanitarian and crisis contexts, how have school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic affected:

• education inequalities? 
• child protection risk and protective factors?
• adverse outcomes for children?

The research methods are qualitative and participatory to ensure that the findings are informed by the experiences and perspectives of children, their families, educators, and the social service workforce. They include: key informant interviews (global, national); workshops with children; focus groups with caregivers, educators, and members of the social service workforce; and semi-structured interviews with children.

The methodology is inclusive and rights based:

• active inclusion of voices of those at the margins of society
• gendered, intergeneration, child rights-based analysis 
• target of15% of research sample to be children/adults with range of disabilities