The UN in Uganda collaborated with the Government and other partners in addressing the health emergency. During the outbreak, more than 20 national UN Volunteers were deployed to bolster the UN response to the crisis. The UN Volunteers were mainly hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and a government agency, the Kampala Capital Authority. Other UN Volunteers initially recruited to support the COVID-19 response were reassigned to the response.

Samuel Kimani started as a national UN Volunteer Youth Leadership Coordinator with the Youth Sounding Board in May 2022. As part of the board, he helped establish the youth marker, which offers tools for mainstreaming youth across programming. One of these is a scale that rates progress in building youth confidence and establishing inclusive spaces. In the past, youth mainstreaming was simply about ticking a box. Now, youth working groups conduct a thorough analysis of all initiatives.

Namuli Annet Christine, Data Management Officer, WHO Uganda Namuli is Public Health Specialist who was recruited as a national UN Volunteer Data Management Officer with WHO in Uganda. She has always been motivated to create positive health impact in communities, in areas of prevention, detection and response to public health emergencies, especially disease outbreaks like the recent Ebola virus. Becoming a UN Volunteer gave her that opportunity.

Arinaitwe Mary Immaculate, Psychosocial Support Officer with WHO Uganda Arinaitwe is an experienced psychologist who has been practicing in mental health and psychosocial support for over four years. Following years of building her skills, she became a national UN Volunteer, aspiring to grow professionally and network with experts from various disciplines.

In this role, my responsibilities span programme management and coordination, operational guidance, partnership building and capacity building. I ensure mothers and children receive quality integrated healthcare services. I collaborate with district health workers from community to national levels. Together, we remove hurdles hindering mothers and children from accessing quality health services. I help them plan their activities based on evidence and best practices.

You could say that peace begins with healthcare. This is our way of supporting the ongoing peace efforts in the country, hoping that the handing over of all of this will lead to the people of Jonglei getting improved access to basic medical care. --Maria Guadalupe, one of the peacekeepers, on behalf of all volunteers involved in the generous initiative Doctor Ajak Garang affirmed that the unexpected assistance will make the intended difference, not least the extra beds.

Following the successful implementation of the first phase, the AWHC initiative continues its mission of placing young African women professionals aged between 22 and 35 years as UN Volunteer health champions across WHO Country Offices in Africa. Through the initiative, WHO-AFRO and UNV commit to improving health for people on the continent, expanding opportunities for African public health professionals, and nurturing the next generation of women health leaders in Africa, while contributing to gender parity for the WHO workforce.

Cultural barriers and social norms limit women's access to the digital sector in general. This is especially so in Burundi where technology jobs are scarce, particularly for women." In 2019, I started as an IT intern. Now, I am a UN Volunteer with Monitoring and Evaluation, and the Digital Unit. I give technical support to UNDP staff on new digital platforms.

Digital transformation brings new possibilities where we can measure the sustainability, track detriments such as green house emissions and maximize use of our existing resources. This is part of UNEP's Medium Term Strategy, the outcomes of which I support.  

My name is David Ouma and I am a national UN Volunteer Specialist. I serve as Project Management Assistant at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi.  My academic background in Biology and my six-month internship in marine conservation at the Kenyan coast led to this UN Volunteer assignment.