The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF says a culture of “safety, friends and food” at school has been replaced by “anxiety, violence, and teenage pregnancy”, with remote learning out of reach for millions.

UNICEF spokesperson James Elder at a press conference at UN in Geneva Tuesday said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “more than 600 million children in countries not on academic break are still affected by school closures”.

Elder said in countries such as Uganda, this has led to a “20 per cent spike in the last 15 months in teen pregnancies, or pregnancies of 10-24-year-old girls, who were seeking antenatal care.

Veronic Njie reports.