Joanna Gbotoe is a Liberian nurse serving at The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in the medical section. Since the beginning of the COVID-10 outbreak, she has played a key role in the Mission regarding prevention activities. Her work involves detecting suspected cases, providing essential treatment, helping in decontamination, and coordinating patient's evacuation.

As I reflect on this year’s International Women’s Day’s theme “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”, I cannot help but be tempted to reconsider women’s triple roles of productive, reproductive, and community work in society, often referred to as their triple “burden”. What if this triple burden, which predisposes women to be the hardest hit by this pandemic, was the stepping-stone that will make women the backbone of recovery in communities?

The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the importance of food security like never before. UN Volunteers are playing an important role in fighting hunger during the global crisis. Currently, there are 51 UN Volunteers serving with FAO globally, including 12 UN Volunteers in Europe and Central Asia region.

UN Women, in partnership with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, is excited to introduce the UN Women “Young Women Leaders” (YWL) initiative. The YWL initiative will engage a diverse cohort of young women from the Global South who are committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment and to the mission and work of the United Nations. It will also allow the sharing of experiences among young leaders from diverse backgrounds across UN Women and further enhance diversity in UN Women’s personnel.

During her first months of assignment, Florence contributed to ad hoc tasks, like gathering gender-disaggregated data concerning COVID-19 together with the Bureau of Statistics in the country or assisting with drafting concept notes for new projects. Furthermore, UN Women also actively provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the pandemic all over Moldova and once, as help was needed, many colleagues and Florence were personally helping to pack hundreds of boxes for different beneficiaries.

My name is Elodia Cheutou and I am 28 years old from Cameroon. I am a national UN Volunteer serving with WFP in Bertoua, in the eastern part of Cameroon.

TRAPPED IN NO ONE’S LAND Andrea Nomdedeu started her UNV assignment with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Mexico in April 2019. As the one responsible for migration and internal displacement, she monitors the situation of thousands of Central American migrants who pass through the country each year, in many cases to try to enter the United States. She describes the dramatic situation of the irregular migrants held in detention centers in Mexico.

I arrived in Kyrgyzstan aged 25, along with my spouse and child. My assignment as a UN Volunteer was to assist communities to overcome poverty in remote areas of the country. My experience as a UN Volunteer in Kyrgyzstan, from 1999-2001, was unique and enriching. It allowed me to become a professional and ultimately, it paved the way for my future.  It is truly the most amazing and life-changing journey I have been on.  

A crucial part of Anton’s work is to promote gender equality and raise awareness about domestic and sexual violence against women; an issue that has worsened during the lockdown period, as witnessed by the dramatic increase in reported cases.