Following the outbreak of the pandemic in Kenya, 50 UN Volunteer health experts were deployed through a UN joint programme to support the COVID-19 response at county level, where the unexpected surge of infections had overstretched healthcare service-delivery capacity, impacting lives and livelihoods.

While I might have been physically in Europe, I often had an interest in working in an African country. I also wanted to contribute my time, skills and knowledge to a more meaningful cause – something I couldn’t quite figure out how to do in the private sector. When an opportunity to serve as a UN Volunteer at the UN Regional Service Centre Entebbe (RSCE) in Uganda came along, I knew that I had to grab it with both hands.

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.  

Over the years, UNDP Uganda has been central in supporting national HIV/AIDS management activities and events in Uganda, such as participating in the development of the HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plan 2020-2025, integrating HIV and human rights in the National Development Plan 2020-2025 and convening HIV/AIDs awareness events, for example on World AIDS Day, International Candle Light Day and Philly Lutaaya Day. UNDP Uganda’s engagement in these spaces has emphasized human rights programming within the HIV fight.

"I used to sell tomatoes in the morning, at the Mutondo street market, to help my family, and in the afternoon I went to school," said Cecília Augusto, 25. The shy girl was forced to speak louder than usual because all we could hear in the room was the sound of sewing machines and people talking happily. That is because Cecília is doing a professional internship in sewing, after finishing training at the National Institute of Employment and Professional Training (INEFOP) in the province of Huíla, southern Angola.

Isolation, war, famine, arid climate, poor access to basic social services, and lack of access to drinking water and electricity are common issues in Androy region. In the face of difficult external and environmental conditions, it has been challenging to recruit high-performing, skilled, and dedicated individuals to build a local team for the Androy region.

Angela Gregório António Chale Macie, UN Volunteer with WFP in Nampula, Mozambique Just a couple of months before COVID-19 spread across nearly every border in the world, Ângela Gregório António Chale Macie began serving as a United Nations Volunteer in Nampula, Mozambique. Little did she know just how critical her role would become for the people in Erati district when the Coronavirus endangered their already-limited access to food.