NICCY’s Covid Main Report

Background

The ‘A New and Better Normal: The Experiences and Impacts of COVID-19 on Children and Young People’ report outlines in detail NICCY’s analysis of the impact of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s rights in Northern Ireland. In preparing the report, NICCY has sought to hear from a wide range of children and young people about their experiences of the pandemic, and through surveys and focus groups have heard from a total of 4,385 young people. We have: 

• Drawn upon our advice to government over the duration of the pandemic to date;
• Commissioned modules on two surveys with children and young people – the Kids Life and Times Survey (KLTS) and the Young Life and Times Survey (YLTS). These surveys sought views from children and young people directly and asked them about the impact of COVID-19;
• Commissioned a detailed qualitative research report from the Centre for Children’s Rights at QUB.  Researchers engaged with professionals from the statutory and voluntary sector working with children and young people on the impact of COVID-19 on the planning and delivery of services to children and young people across the 11 key areas identified by the United National Convention on Rights of the Child;
• Engaged directly with groups of children and young people who may have been ‘vulnerable’, in terms of the uneven impact of COVID-19 and the response, by running a series of 11 focus groups, facilitated by voluntary sector groups;
• Requested and analysed data from government and research literature from other sources including statutory bodies, voluntary sector organisations, and academic institutions; and
• Identified learning relating to the current COVID-19 emergency to inform recommendations on planning for the COVID-19 recovery.

Supporting Report

The ‘A New and Better Normal’ report is accompanied by a number of other publications and communications:

Summary Report

• A Summary Report providing a brief overview of the findings and recommendations from the main report – you can view the report here

Queens Report

• The commissioned report from QUB: Corr, M-L, Byrne, B., McAlister, S., Templeton, M. (2021), The Impact of COVID-19 on the Planning and Delivery of Children’s Services: A Rights Review (Belfast: NICCY).
• The purpose of this report was to identify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the planning and delivery of services to children and young people. It aimed to identify the challenges experienced by professionals and practitioners working in statutory and voluntary sectors and examine the ways in which they responded to and aimed to resolve the issues presented. The analysis aimed to assess these in the context of the rights and best interests of children and young people in Northern Ireland with a view to aiding NICCY in framing recommendations for future emergency planning.