Adolescent refugee challenges under Covid-19

In these unprecedented times, millions of refugees face lockdown in environments where social distancing or access to essential financial or medical support are limited or non-existent. As families and communities struggle to access resources, schools or opportunities, child-marriage and unsafe underage labour are beginning to take priority over education, and concerns are mounting that adolescent refugees will be left behind during the pandemic response. Based on real-time virtual interviews with adolescents within refugee contexts, we examine age- and gender- specific vulnerabilities of adolescent refugees. We spotlight adolescent refugee voices from the Palestinian, Rohingya and Syrian refugee crises and identify key priorities for policy and programming, as well as putting forward recommendations to address critical education and protection gaps for adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.