Worldwide, over 65 million people have contracted the COVID-19 virus and 1.5 million have lost their lives. In the haste to contain this pandemic, resources for many community-based programs and supportive services have been reduced, halted or reallocated toward the emergency response. Lockdown measures and travel restrictions have also been mandated.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), refugees, displaced persons and women are particularly vulnerable to economic shocks because they are disproportionally represented in the labor market as either informal laborers or underpaid and unpaid caregivers.

The project for sustaining peace in Tunisia through the inclusion of young people at the local level is being implemented by UNDP, UN Women and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), with the support of the UN Peacebuilding Fund, and in partnership with seven different municipalities. Each of the UN Volunteers is responsible for the coordination of the project in one municipality, where social cohesion and resilience are promoted through the inclusion of the most marginalized young women and men.

Nizar (24), Raymonda (28) and Zeinab (27) serve as UN Youth Volunteers in Water/Irrigation Engineering, assisting with the upgrade of existing irrigation infrastructure. "The project targets the rehabilitation of existing damaged irrigation canals and the transformation of earthen canals to concrete canals," Raymonda explains.

This principle, ascribed 75 years ago in the preamble of the UN Charter, symbolized a global conviction towards a new world. With a common aspiration to prevent the recurrence of the 'untold sorrow to mankind' experienced in the decades prior, the signatories committed to a restored faith in humanity. The principle permeates through all of the UN’s work, be that in humanitarian assistance, development or peacekeeping.

Since October 2019, Lebanon has been witnessing a grim economic crisis that was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. The national currency has lost 80 per cent of its value, driving the price of a monthly food basket – that is a selection of staple food items a family needs – to more than the double over the past six months. With one million people living below the poverty line, many families were already struggling to make ends meet.