The Social Policy Research Institute (SPRI Global) is currently supporting UNICEF Ghana in an assessment of the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children in Ghana. The assessment includes a significant public finance component and relies on both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods across key sectors.

The main objectives of this assignment are to conduct a country-level assessment of the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, involving the collection and analysis of data materialized in three separate stages. The main objectives of these components are to explain the:

1. Magnitude of country-specific vulnerability of children to primary and secondary effects of Covid-19
2. Socio-economic determinants and drivers of the magnitude of effects/impacts of Covid-19 on children
3. Positive and negative short-term and long-term effects of governmental policies and interventions, e.g. lockdowns and school closures to mitigate effects of Covid-19
4. Inequities in primary and secondary Covid-19 impacts; identification of most vulnerable groups
5. Recommendations on governmental interventions and how to operationalize them into planning, budgeting, and monitoring
6. Best practice financial strategies and approaches to mitigate Covid-19 impacts on children in Ghana, especially at sub-national level.

Throughout all research areas, focus on the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of children is emphasized. Intersecting disadvantages may impact their actual and potential vulnerabilities to the impacts of the pandemic, including how gender-specific vulnerabilities may play into these disadvantages.