Restrictions have violated freedoms to practice faith

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom warned that some countries have used COVID-19 restrictions to discriminate against religious minorities or blame them for the spread of the virus.

USCIRF, a bipartisan commission tasked with informing Congress and the federal government about global religious freedom concerns, released its 2021 annual report detailing the international religious freedom conditions in a year plagued by a pandemic.

The cover of this year’s report, which details where religious freedom is “improving or in peril,” features a globe shrouded in a face mask, showing the worldwide implications the pandemic had.

USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin said at a press conference that though public health measures in most countries to slow the spread of COVID-19 complied with international human rights standards, some countries used these measures to discriminate against religious minorities.

“Unfortunately, it had a negative impact in many ways …,” she said. “What we found to be unacceptable were where minorities were targeted in much stricter fashion, and their activities were restricted much more harshly than other religions across the country, and that’s where the problem arose.”

“Also, there were countries that literally blamed the COVID-19 virus on a particular religion, [claiming] that they were responsible for the spread of that virus across their country,” she continued.

Some countries used the pandemic as an “excuse” to “punish and penalize” minority religious groups.

“While many of these restrictions were justifiable under public health exceptions defined in international law, some restrictions harmed religious minorities or otherwise violated freedom of religion or belief,” the report reads.

Where certain religions were targeted or blamed for causing the spread of the virus, there was a greater risk of being arrested and placed in prison or “deplorable conditions.”

“As the restrictions are lifted, we will be watching very closely to make sure that those restrictions are being lifted fairly across the country to all religions,” Manchin said.

One example is Malaysia, where “non-Muslim houses of worship, including Hindu temples and Christian churches, were not prioritized for reopening and faced different reopening times than mosques.” Additionally, the country banned refugees and migrants from entering mosques.

In Turkey, an individual attempted to “set fire” to an Armenian church for “bringing the coronavirus.”

The commission reported that “the pandemic also fostered a wave of misinformation targeting religious minorities.”

MORE: https://www.christianpost.com/news/some-covid-19-restrictions-harmed-religious-minorities-uscirf.html?uid=f1f5a81e89&utm_source=The+Christian+Post+List&utm_campaign=CP-Newsletter&utm_medium=email

Pray for all persecuted Christians throughout the world
Pray for governments and leaders, that they show wisdom and good judgment in these difficult times
Pray for those in prison for their faith, that they may know the sustaining presence of Jesus alongside them

Pray that God’s justice will rain down in the darkest places

COVID-19 has harmed girls' education

Before COVID-19, the longstanding educational disadvantage for women had been declining and even led, in some cases, to a 'reverse' gap where girls were outperforming boys in enrollment rates and learning outcomes.

However, evidence suggests that the pandemic may slow or reverse these gains, through factors such as an increased risk of dropping out of school.

Action is needed immediately to reverse these losses and ensure girls around the world return to school.

The returns to schooling are especially high for women. That is, the earnings increment associated with more education is in fact higher for women than for men. One additional year of schooling and women’s wages go up 12% (compared with 10% for men).

However, the schooling gains of girls and women are under threat. Prior to the COVID-19-induced school closures, girls were staying in school longer and learning more than at any other time. The longstanding disadvantage for girls in terms of enrollment had been declining. In some cases, this led to a “reverse gap” where girls outperform boys in both enrollment rates and learning outcomes – a female learning premium.

COVID-19 may put a temporary halt to this progress. COVID-19-induced school closures may slow or reverse these gains and may further prevent girls and women from realizing the potential returns – representing a “hidden” future cost. Urgent action is needed to ensure that girls and women can realize the returns to their schooling.

The World Bank is forecasting lower levels of schooling, learning, and future earnings because of school closures due to COVID-19. Learning loss is expected and predicted. Recent evidence from several countries shows that the COVID-19 slide is real. For women and girls, who are already being significantly negatively affected by the pandemic, there is a particular risk in the realm of education.

The pandemic puts girls at an increased risk of:

• Dropping out of school
• Being vulnerable to domestic violence and other Gender-Based Violence (GBV)
• Child marriage
• Early pregnancy
• Being exploited as child labor

UNESCO has projected that 11 million girls may never return to school following the pandemic.

What can be done, what might work?

Remote learning was a useful action in the Spring of 2020; but it’s not the answer now. Rather, we need to open schools – safely – in order to mitigate and reverse learning losses and get girls back in school. For many girls, especially the youngest, the learning lost during the pandemic can be limited and even reversed by improving distance education during school closures and by implementing learning recovery programs such as Teach to the Right Level and High Dosage Tutoring, which the evidence has shown to be effective. However, for older girls, the risk of dropping out is real, and they may leave school before their learning losses can be recovered, unless innovative programs are put in place in a timely manner.

The risk of dropping out needs to be addressed right away by providing extra support to students and their families to ensure that they stay in school, making sure to target girls as being at a high risk of dropout and learning losses. Targeted support may also be needed to overcome constraints specific to girls, especially adolescent girls. For example, the Keeping Girls in School Program in Zambia provides cash transfers to families of adolescent girls so they can afford to keep their daughters in school and has set up an early warning system to identify girls at risk of dropping out and of other vulnerabilities.

Organizations and communities can work to ensure students continue their education while at home but at the same time ensure that they are receiving other crucial services as well, so they do not lose momentum.

The role of government is key. Progress will only come when they are able to implement at scale, and once policymakers, business leaders, nonprofits, and individual communities work hand in hand.

More:  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/04/covid-19-has-harmed-girls-education-here-s-what-needs-to-be-done/

Pray for equality of access for girls to education throughout the world
Pray for those organisations at the heart of efforts to bring education to girls in under-developed nations
Pray for teacher, educators and administrators that they may know wisdom in overcoming the devastation of the last 12 months