With sincere thanks for the continued support of our partners, we reflect on partnership highlights with four of our UN partners – the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Women, UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Malou had worked earlier as a consultant for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UN Development Programme (UNDP), and as a staff member in UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), all in the Philippines. She is now a UN Volunteer Coordination Assistant in the Philippines.

I came to Jordan to support the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) response, as part of the national campaign to eliminate the COVID-19 virus. The main role of UNICEF in the campaign is to build the capacities of the government to respond to COVID-19.

Kristian Yudhianto serves in Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, in East Java. As a Health Officer, his primary responsibility is to support the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the city and across eight districts. He works with other public health professionals to carefully analyze immunization data and help with logistical planning and vaccine readiness assessments.

What do you do as a UN Volunteer? The Global Fund’s COVID-19 response programme aims to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the fight to defeat HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and promotes urgent improvements in health and community systems.

This group of UN Volunteers (six women and nine men) was part of a team comprising one thousand personnel during the peak period of the elections – described as "the biggest electoral assistance mission in the history of UN’s practice worldwide," according to Dr Aamir Arain, Director of UNAMI Electoral Assistance and UN Principal Electoral Advisor. However, these volunteers "were a significant part of this undertaking, serving in both substantive, technical and administrative aspects of the complex electoral assistance programme," adds Dr Arain.

By introducing a law against gender-based violence in 2011 and adopting a positive discrimination approach, progress made in Cabo Verde has been encouraging. Unfortunately, entrenched patriarchal gender stereotypes persist and many of these have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. More women were isolated at home and many social services closed, which resulted in the increased vulnerability of women and girls to domestic abuse and other forms of violence. Work continues to recover these gains and promote greater equality for women in Cabo Verde.

As a Communications Assistant with UN Women, Zhu Liu was responsible for the communication and advocacy activities of the COVID-19 recovery project and the Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme. She promoted and advocated gender equality and women’s rights through multiple channels, and developed social media content and online campaigns on Weibo, WeChat, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

According to the 2018 Latinobarómetro report, more than half of Latin Americans (56 per cent) do not trust the media, and the democratic support is only 48 per cent. In addition, information contamination (or info-pollution) and bad information are tools that cause political polarization and misinformation and undermine democracy.

Having experienced discrimination herself, Chavia has always felt the need to dedicate herself to tackling challenges faced by persons with disabilities. For as long as she can remember, volunteering has always been her passion. During her university years at Aleppo University, Syria, Chavia founded an advocacy organization for persons with disabilities. "At the time, I was fortunate enough to have my father’s support, so I was able to fully dedicate myself to improving the everyday lives of persons with disabilities in my home country," she recalls.