As a result of COVID-19, many people have experienced changes in their mental and physical wellbeing, due to isolation, restrictions and unexpected situations resulting from this unpreceded crisis. I have seen this happening in the Asia-Pacific region among UN Volunteers, colleagues and peers, especially those living away from their families and loved ones, who may have been more affected by this situation than others. 

I have volunteered on campaigns to end Hepatitis B and "Peste des Petits ruminants" in animals in many inaccessible communities in Northern Nigeria. The Africa Women Health Champions initiative came at the right time in my professional carerr, as I was looking for opportunities to join UNV to broaden my experience and learn from others. 

Thank you, Mr Associate Administrator, for your introduction and your – and the Administrator’s – commitment to volunteerism and your strong support to the United Nations Volunteers programme. Madame President, Distinguished delegates, Mr Associate Administrator, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Through the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Child Development and its network, the initiative aims to mobilise, train and deploy 2500 community youth volunteers across the country, selected from some of the most affected communities in the country. They will support ongoing sensitization efforts by the Zambian Government, the United Nations, Development partners and other key stakeholders to help control the spread of the virus.

UN Volunteers are supporting a WHO project for Health Security in Turkey, which aims to improve services and the capacity of laboratories, and another for the Social Inclusion of Persons with Mental Disabilities. These projects have changed dramatically due to the outbreak.

National UN Volunteer Iryna Koval has been supporting OCHA as a Humanitarian Affairs Specialist since March 2019. Soon, she will start her new position as a coordination and monitoring consultant with the World Health Organization (WHO), a key partner in addressing COVID-19. At the onset of the pandemic, OCHA and its partners re-oriented their work in eastern Ukraine to address the health emergency and the current need for humanitarian aid.

The United Nations system is gearing up its efforts to support national COVID-19 response plans in West and Central Africa. UNV is no exception. UN Volunteers add value to UN and government efforts, like Dr Philemon Niyitegeka (Rwanda), a UN Volunteer Technical Assistant in Mobile Care Strategies, serving with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Togo.

Giving clarity and certainty to UN Volunteers and their host agencies, is vital. UNV has put measures and guidelines in place to ensure duty of care for its currently serving 6,000 UN Volunteers who are deployed with over 50 UN entity partners worldwide.

Over the past two years, more and more UN Volunteers have been serving with WHO in support of its operations in the Arab States (from 8 in 2018 to 50 in 2020). Today, these UN Volunteers are part of the organization’s efforts to support an effective COVID-19 response by governments of the region, serving in functions varying from technical support and public information, to general administration, financial and personnel management.

African countries and WHO are redoubling their efforts to strengthen people’s health and well-being in a region with some of the highest rates of disease in the world. With the Africa Women Health Champions, UNV and WHO will recruit early-career women professionals to promote health across the 47 countries where WHO is present on the continent.