The OCC established a Children’s Consultative Council (CCC) Malaysia, consisting of twenty (20) members, ranging from 10 to 17 years old from various backgrounds across Malaysia. The OCC received 51 complaints related to the rights of children nationwide. The OCC visited six detention centres and four children’s homes, and held a watching brief over three cases involving children. OCC issued seven statements in 2020 in relation to issues and challenges faced by children during the MCO, children’s right to education during COVID-19, the death of a four-year-old girl in a car, and in conjunction with International Children’s Day celebrations. Beginning 18 March, the government enforced a nationwide MCO under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) and Police Act 1967 (Act 344) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Extensive lockdowns and social distancing measures, while well-intended, have resulted in far-reaching consequences to the economic and social lives of society. Many individuals lost their jobs and livelihood as the nation’s economy was forced to pause during the MCO imposed. This raised concerns over households being pushed into the B40 group, or worse, below the poverty line income (PLI) threshold. Access to relevant devices and internet connection is not entirely universal in the country, especially for the poor and those living in rural and isolated villages, thereby disrupting children’ access to education in varying degrees. Various communities are disproportionally impacted by the pandemic depending on their living arrangement, financial stability and access to specific safeguards affecting their risk of infection. This is especially so for frontline workers, persons with disabilities, the poor, homeless, refugees, migrants and prisoners. The pandemic also fuelled racism and xenophobia in Malaysia, just like around the world. Hate speech and finger-pointing caused stigma and distress among some groups. There was a reported increase in domestic violence and of children being abused during the pandemic. SUHAKAM initiated discussions with the European Union Delegation and reached an agreement for SUHAKAM to undertake a 19-month project entitled ‘Responding to COVID-19 by Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable Communities in Malaysia’. The general aim was to enable information sharing, improve the capacity of Malaysian civil society organisations (CSOs), and facilitate aid in direct response to alleviating human rights at this time. The project also includes a capacity building/upskilling workshops component, focusing on vocational training such as agri-entrepreneurship for those who lost their means of livelihood during the pandemic. ANNUAL REPORT 2020 xix