My name is Elodia Cheutou and I am 28 years old from Cameroon. I am a national UN Volunteer serving with WFP in Bertoua, in the eastern part of Cameroon.

UNHCR has benefitted from a number of international UN Volunteers over the years – they become an essential part of the team, bringing a wealth of fresh perspective and knowledge and positive energy. --Stephanie Woldenberg, Senior Protection Officer with UNHCR, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With a background in architecture, urban design, planning and sustainable development, I have worked with many international organizations on emergency to long-term development projects across East Africa, Middle East, Asia, North America and Europe. I was grateful to join the UNHCR Burundi operation as a UN Volunteer and apply my over eight years of experience, working in fast paced multicultural environments to provide the technical expertise that was needed from the national to community level.

While the elderly, people with disabilities and refugees are all at high risk, COVID-19 has also led to a surge in sexual and gender-based violence. This is alarming for Filippa, who works with UNHCR on prevention and tailoured response. Women are at risk of physical, psychological and emotional violence. These risks could increase due to confinement, increased anxiety and deterioration of mental health. --Filippa Dahlback, UN Volunteer Associate Protection Officer with UNHCR, Boa Vista

Since March 2019, Mohamed Ould Zeni has served as a Community Mobilization Assistant with UNHCR in Djibo, in the north of the country. Every day he monitors households and ensures that cohabitation and relationships between local host populations and refugees are as peaceful as possible. 

Identity, to me, is what we share when we introduce ourselves to others. It includes the traditions of our country of origin or the language we speak, our religious practices, family customs, hometown festivals and more. Now, imagine if your very identity was continuously challenged – only because you were forced to flee your place of origin due to precarious circumstances like war, political unrest or climate change. This is the reality that asylum seekers, refugees and anyone unwillingly displaced from home, face every day.

Holly finds working on refugee and asylum matters very engaging, especially as the country has long-term ambitions to join the EU and align its legal frameworks and systems accordingly.

Sudan is currently hosting over one million refugees from South Sudan, Eritrea, Syria and other countries. While there have been no reported cases of refugees who have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, the high density of refugee dwellings, coupled with limited health care and WASH facilities, makes them particularly vulnerable to the pandemic. Based in Kosti, White Nile State, Alemayehu Gebremichael (Ethiopia) is a UN Volunteer serving as a Health and Nutrition Officer within a programme that caters to the needs of nearly 160,00 refugees in nine camps.

Awareness-raising and dissemination of information materials are paramount for COVID-19 prevention. Therefore, UNHCR, through its civil society partners, is ensuring outreach to refugee communities. As part of a dedicated information campaign for COVID-19 prevention, UNHCR facilitated the printing of information materials and disseminating them through partner organizations in locations where refugees and asylum seekers reside. Posters, for example, depict hygiene measures and restrictions on gatherings and travel, and guide on maintaining social distancing.