Over the past two years, more and more UN Volunteers have been serving with WHO in support of its operations in the Arab States (from 8 in 2018 to 50 in 2020). Today, these UN Volunteers are part of the organization’s efforts to support an effective COVID-19 response by governments of the region, serving in functions varying from technical support and public information, to general administration, financial and personnel management.

On March 20th in Kenya, the the Government of Kenya, United Nations and International Community convened in Nairobi to join forces in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya.

UN Volunteer Sitara Khatiwada plays a vital role in mentoring midwives within the Government health facilities as well as the Rohingya Refugee Community in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. She is serving as a Midwife Specialist in Emergency with UNFPA, and is responsible for the direct supervision, training and mentoring of national midwives employed by UNFPA through the project “Partners under Sexual Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR)”.

On 11 March, the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic. Africa was initially spared from the outbreak; however, this has since changed rapidly. The entry of COVID-19 onto the continent is a serious issue of concern to the region's socio-economic and political stability. According to WHO, Africa bears 71% of the global distribution of communicable diseases, against a backdrop of relatively weaker health-care systems.

By joining the United Nations as a volunteer, Dany, as his patients call him, hopes that his medical expertise and day-to-day contributions will help promote peace in the country. 'When I arrived, I first assessed the health risks related to the region and set up the clinic with care services for the patients," says Dr. Daniel. Ndele is one of the regions of CAR with a small government presence, including police and security forces, and where MINUSCA's priority is to gradually restore the state of authority by facilitating the conditions for their redeployment.

Stronger partnership UN Volunteers have operated through various assignments in the health sector with WHO, since the beginning of the partnership in 1973. The engagement of UN Volunteers in WHO health programmes has increased steadily since then, as a result of UN Volunteers’ professional input to the preparation and implementation of emergency response plans to disease outbreaks, such as Ebola in West Africa, which remains a threat.

Fanara Bunyadzada, national UN Youth Volunteer, joined the WHO Communications team in Azerbaijan at the beginning of this year, motivated by her belief that "volunteering is the best way to make a positive impact in the society," and by her desire to help people to be more aware about health-related issues.

As part of the Expanded Programme on Immunization a nationwide measles follow-up vaccination campaign was conducted from 15-27 Oct 2018 by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (MoNHSRC) and the Government of Pakistan. WHO provided the technical assistance to respective provincial health departments and district health management teams. The objective of the campaign was to vaccinate children from six-months to five years with one dose of measles vaccine, irrespective of their previous vaccination status and illness.

Jainarayan Singh is a 31-year old Medical Doctor from India, currently on a two-year UN Volunteer assignment with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Somalia. In his role as Health Manager ad interim and Medical Doctor, Dr. Singh is responsible for overseeing medical care and health support for the 1,050 UN staff (and 4,000 dependents) in-country, ensuring that humanitarian workers and other staff are fit and able to continue delivering essential services.

During 2017, nearly 250 UN Volunteers worldwide served in assignments that are clearly linked to medical professions. They bolstered the work of 23 UN partner entities, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA), UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNAIDS, as well as 13 UN peacekeeping missions. Through their assignments, they contribute significantly to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, which targets achieving healthy lives and wellbeing for all.