Swedish ICMIF member Länsförsäkringar’s Research Fund is funding a new research study at Uppsala University to investigate children and young people’s views on the Covid-19 situation. The study will look at those who are aged 4-18 years old. According to the Research Fund, many children and young people feel anxious and are touched by the issue, but their voices are rarely heard.

Peter Griepenkerl Lööf, Head of the Länsförsäkringar Research Fund, says: “we want to increase awareness and knowledge of the situation as it is being experienced by children’s situation during the pandemic by funding independent research and we want to contribute to their safety.”

The research study, which is based on a web survey, is led by Anna Sarkadi, a professor of social medicine at Uppsala University. She explains: “it is especially important that the voices of children and young people are heard in connection with this historical event. There is a lot of talk about coronavirus in both preschools and schools, but no one has previously investigated how they themselves experience the event”.

The questionnaire is available in different languages ​​and in a version with image support so that as many children and young people as possible can participate. It is also possible to upload children’s pictures about the coronavirus pandemic.

The study is ongoing until June 2020 and for each child who participates, the Länsförsäkringar Research Fund will make a donation to one of the main children’s rights organizations such as Save the Children or Unicef  up to a maximum total donation of SEK 50,000 (USD 5,000). The children who have participated in the survey are asked to choose which of the organizations they want to receive a donation at the end of them completing the survey.

You can view the survey here. Versions are available in Swedish, English, Somali and Arabic.