UNICEF and Microsoft launch app to protect vulnerable children and women

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Microsoft have launched a new version of Primero called Primero X. It is an open source web application that helps social service providers co-ordinate critical support to vulnerable children and women. Primero X comes as a response to increase in the rates of domestic and gender-based violence since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNICEF and partners urge governments and protection authorities to adopt innovative technologies, to ensure that vulnerable women and children can be protected even during specific and challenging circumstances. Primero X supports multiple modules and can adapt to a broad range of protection programming, including unaccompanied and separated children, psychosocial support, children in alternative care, and gender-based violence in emergencies. So far, Primero has been rolled out in 29 countries and territories.