Greta Thunberg announced last month she may have been infected with the coronavirus and recovered, and now the teen activist is making a push to help other kids affected by COVID-19. Thunberg recently received a $100,000 award from the Human Act, a Danish anti-poverty NGO, and now the Local reports Thunberg will donate that money to the United Nations Children's Fund to help kids who may be suffering during the pandemic. "Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is a child-rights crisis," Thunberg says in a release. "It will affect all children, now and in the long term, but vulnerable groups will be impacted the most." Human Act will match her donation. The money will go toward UNICEF emergency programs that distribute such items as hygiene kits, protective gear like masks and gloves, and other health care items.
Newsweek notes that although kids are less likely to experience severe physical reactions to the virus, it can still be deadly to the younger set, and children remain "among the biggest victims of the pandemic" in terms of social and economic effects. The outlet cites a recent UN report estimating between 42 million and 66 million kids could fall into extreme poverty, which could lead to hundreds of thousands of more child deaths. Other ways in which kids may suffer from the pandemic include immunization programs being temporarily nixed, as well as increased vulnerability to domestic violence as they're locked down at home. "Through her activism, Greta Thunberg has proven that young people are ready to ... lead change in the world," says UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. (More Greta Thunberg stories.)
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