My Name is Emmanuel Chileshe Musonda, and I am currently serving as a UN Volunteer Health and Nutrition Associate at UNHCR's Kawambwa field office in the Mantapala refugee settlement. As a UN Volunteer, I mainly support the planning, implementation and analysis of health and nutrition projects in the refugee settlement. From a strategic standpoint, I provide technical guidance and programmatic recommendations on the overall design and focus of public health and nutrition programmes in the settlement. 

Women's rights have been on the agenda of the whole UN system and its agencies over many years. Emanating from its triple mandate, UN Women has several key aims for their projects, focusing on empowering women, increasing women's political involvement, mainstreaming gender in national processes, greater economic security for women and ending gender-based violence. 

"At the beginning of the pandemic, there were no specific treatment modalities, and no vaccines were available for COVID-19. It was important to isolate the people infected from COVID-19 and contact tracing on time to stop the spread of the virus."

In 2020, WHO and UNV joined forces with the aim of recruiting 100 women to improve people’s health and well-being on the continent, while also promoting gender equality in Africa.  Thanks to this initiative, 77 UN Volunteer Health Champions are actively participating in the work of the World Health Organization (WHO). I am particularly appreciative of their actions during the COVID-19 response and other emergencies in the Africa Region. With diverse skill sets and competencies, they are also helping us sustain gains made in terms of our health priorities.  

Chaired by the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Namibia, the UN CPRP contributed to strengthening national health capacity and systems as well as providing operational assistance on logistics, especially for the procurement of medical equipment, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In Luwuk, about 12 hours drive away from Palu when the earthquake hit, Tofan, then 24, feared the worst from a disaster that eventually killed more than 4,300 people. “We were very panicked for our loved ones. We could not contact them because there was no phone connection and electricity,” he says.

UNFPA has been active in Ethiopia since 1973 and is working with the government, UN entities and partners to improve sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, emergency obstetric care and fistula treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed significant pressure on health service delivery and compounded existing challenges in promoting gender equality and improving maternal health. 

National UN Volunteers have been playing a key role in providing healthcare to over 6,000 UN staff and their eligible dependents. They carry out daily walk-in consultations, emergency care, inpatient care, follow up of cases and healthcare promotional activities, with proper guidance from international UN Volunteers and senior medical staff, as stipulated in the UN Clinic Standard Operating Procedures.

As a national UN Volunteer Medical Officer based at the Inter-agency UN Clinic, I support efforts to promote a wellbeing economy and culture in the UN system in Zambia. Human wellbeing, equitable access to healthcare and ecological sustainability are key deliverables that I strive for in my day-to-day work. I believe that the key to a healthy lifestyle is in the mantra of giving: "there is more happiness in giving than in receiving".

When Aidana Yergaliyeva (Kazakhstan), Dayanch Hojageldiyev* (Turkmenistan), Malika Djalalova (Uzbekistan), Sara Kajevikj (North Macedonia), Parandzem Paryan (Armenia), Faris Mahmutovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Rusudan Khotivari (Georgia) joined their teams, many countries faced – and still face – difficult COVID-19 situations. But that didn’t scare them off.