Lydia Mpeh is on the frontline of the battle against COVID-19 in South Sudan. Originally from Cameroon, the UN Volunteer serves as a medical laboratory technician in the Rumbek region, using her expertise to manage the lab at a hospital operated by UNMISS.

Our rallying cry as the United Nations is to leave no one behind. --Lionel Laurens, UNDP Resident Representative, speaking at the launch of the COVID-19 mass community outreach campaign

Eby Emile serves in Mopti with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) as a licensed practical nurse. His work boils down to promoting and applying preventive health policies and activities for the general populace and evaluating the quality of medical services provided to United Nations personnel.

If there is a skill that UN Volunteers currently assigned in Guinea-Bissau have strengthened in the fight against COVID-19, it is adaptability to local and national situations. João Hernani Melo and Laura Brandão, Brazilian UN Volunteers assigned to UNDP and UNFPA respectively, have had to develop effective response strategies to accompany the government and support communities in these challenging times.

They come from Côte d’Ivoire, Italy, Bangladesh, Argentina and Kyrgyzstan… Online Volunteers worldwide allocate their time, competencies and energy to support civil society organizations, public institutions and UN agencies in the fight against COVID-19. In West and Central Africa, Online Volunteers have supported organizations in Senegal, Nigeria and Cameroon as social media administrators, graphic designers, researchers, financial proposal writers, project developers, and even as microbiologists.

Media coverage of the story about Health Community Volunteers, trained and equipped by UN Volunteers, work in relation to COVID-19 response in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, April 2020

Media coverage of the story about Health Community Volunteers, trained and equipped by UN Volunteers, work in relation to COVID-19 response in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, April 2020