“I must work to eat”: COVID-19, poverty, and child labor in Ghana, Nepal, and Uganda (Human Rights Watch)

Human Rights Watch published an article stating that due to the pandemic, many children have entered the workforce to help their families survive, while others have been forced to work longer hours or enter more precarious and exploitative situations. Some despair of ever going back to school. Many of the children described a lack of food and hunger. While their families lost income, food became more expensive due to movement restrictions and reduced supply. According to IFPRI in the blog post, “IFPRI’s new COVID-19 Food Price Monitor tracks warning signs of stress in local markets,” the price of food staples in Uganda increased by more than 15 percent from mid-March to early May 2020.