Since the first case of the COVID-19 was reported in Viet Nam on 23 January 2020, the Government of Viet Nam (GoV) accelerated efforts to contain the spread of the virus and provide treatment for those infected. Since there is currently no vaccine available for COVID-19, the government has relied on nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), with a focus on social distancing. These NPIs included closures of schools and other non-essential service facilities as well as isolation, quarantine, and travel restrictions.
While most sectors have re-opened, not everything has returned to pre-outbreak levels. Viewed in its totality, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a human and development crisis pressuring the lives of people, and particularly pushing the most vulnerable groups - including women working in the hardest-hit sectors, informal workers and children - into potential long-term poverty and deprivations, eroding Viet Nam’s hard-won development gains of the past two decades. Timely and rigorous evidence, especially an assessment and analysis of impacts (based on empirical research) at household and individual levels on children and their families is of great importance for policy-makers and development partners to support Viet Nam in providing timely and effective short- and long-term policy responses.
A dedicated research team from Ha Noi University of Public Health completed a rapid assessment on the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 on children and families in Viet Nam, with valuable technical guidance, inputs and comments from all programme sections of UNICEF Viet Nam, and the participation and support from key informants and local authorities in some cities and provinces in Vietnam.This rapid assessment is part of UNICEF Viet Nam’s comprehensive support to the Government of Viet Nam to inform its policy-making in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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