Oleksandra Malukalo joined the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in Ukraine as a national UN Volunteer last year. She is among national UN Volunteers deployed in 79 countries and with 18 UN entities through an investment of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. UNV dedicated US $2 million for this purpose from its Special Voluntary Fund* (SVF), a flexible multi-donor fund that allows UNV to provide timely and strategic investments.

It's been more than a year since the COVID-19 outbreak started. Although there have been countless challenges, which were hard to resolve, we are enduring these testing times well together. Among those who have been tirelessly fighting COVID-19 – either on the frontlines or by wearing masks or staying at home – we would like to recognize and honour our UN Volunteers' tremendous efforts to address the challenges of the pandemic.

While COVID-19 severely impacted the most vulnerable communities, its effects were also felt across UN programme countries, reversing many positive gains in sustainable development. To support countries and UN partners in their response to the pandemic, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme invested its resources to deploy UN Volunteers with partners, financed through its UNV Special Voluntary Fund.*

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased demand for remote work and data access. At the same time, countering stereotypes and misinformation has become necessary for the progress of the pandemic response efforts. However, in many countries, the information systems and architecture necessitated by remote environments have lagged behind. As a result, access to health information and healthcare has been complicated.

In crises and emergency situations, volunteering provides governments and civil society organizations with greater flexibility and response capacity. This is particularly true in humanitarian crises, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic

I am currently serving as a national UN Volunteer in Liberia for the Spotlight Initiative. My role is to develop an outreach strategy and distribute awareness-raising materials for the Coronavirus pandemic, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health. We engage with community members and religious leaders to promote preventive measures for vulnerable community members, including women, girls and persons with disabilities.

Mihoko joined the Resident Coordinator's Office in April 2018, serving through the Global Human Resource Development Programme for Peacebuilding and Development (HRD) of the Government of Japan. She supported bringing together different UN entities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of activities at the country level. To do so, she developed strategies and activities to actively involve the private sector in development.

As Nepal began to shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak, myths and misinformation about the pandemic started spreading fast – through personal interactions and social media. To address this issue and to ensure the safety of all communities, the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme, together with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Resident Coordinator's Office (UNRCO), formed the Volunteer for Action (V4Action) group, comprising 500+ volunteers from all seven provinces of Nepal.

The spirit of volunteerism, innate in all of us, is what drives the selflessness of people who, during the COVID-19 pandemic, have extended kindness to their neighbours, supported access to medical care for those in need, and shopped for the elderly and other vulnerable people, among other acts of generosity. This resonates with a quote from former UN Secretary-General, the late Kofi Annan.  

In 2020, there has never been a more urgent need for members of our community to step up and support the health and safety of neighbours and friends as we united to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. United Nations Volunteers have assisted in sharing information and personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly to the most vulnerable – women and children experiencing violence.