The COVID-19 pandemic upended the world as we knew it. This collection of photos showcase how the UN in India mobilized its resources and capabilities and stood with India throughout the battle against the second wave of COVID-19 in the spring of 2021.
Boosting Oxygen Supply
Hospitals across the nation struggled with the sharp rise in patients and a shortage of a resource critical for their care: oxygen.
To meet the demand for COVID-19 patients with breathing distress, UN agencies moved to rapidly procure and distribute oxygen concentrators to healthcare facilities while setting up oxygen generating plants across India.
Caption: 170 metric tonnes of World Health Organization (WHO) supported medical resources, including oxygen concentrators and tents for temporary health facilities, reached New Delhi earlier this year.
Caption: UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Health Specialist Dr Pravin Khobragade demonstrates an oxygen concentrator to healthcare workers at the Community Health Centre in Loni, Uttar Pradesh, in May 2021.
Volunteers, healthcare workers, women, community leaders, among many others took on the fight against COVID.
Caption: Ashok is one of many incredible volunteers helping to amplify messages on prevention measures, treatment, and boosting vaccine confidence. UNICEF supports local authorities by training and deploying community-level volunteers like Ashok to support frontline workers.
Caption: Serving on the frontlines, nurses have played a critical role in providing healthcare and protecting us since the beginning of the pandemic. To ensure their safety as cases surged, UNFPA conducted refresher training sessions for healthcare workers on personal protection and the management of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Caption: Salma Lari, an accredited social health worker, weighs a baby as part of her home visits providing pre- and post-natal health check-ups in New Delhi. UN Women has supported women healthcare workers like Salma from the start of the pandemic with COVID-19 prevention and safety protocol training, as well as critical health supplies. Through its Second Chance Education programme, UN Women trained and certified 10,000 nurses and nurse assistants across 20 states to provide frontline health services safely during the pandemic.
Caption: Community-based organizations were also instrumental in supporting district level door-to-door vaccination drives for people in hard-to-reach areas. In the tribal villages of Odisha, where the surge placed enormous pressure on already strained health services, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) supported the Odisha PVTGs Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement programme to create awareness on topics like social distancing and regular hand washing.
UN agencies are supporting India in accelerating of her vaccination drive.
Caption: Health worker Amrit Kaur, trained by UNDP to support the government’s Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVin), uses her smartphone to track vaccine stocks at the Female District Hospital of Haridwar, Uttarakhand. UNDP has trained over one million healthcare workers to use the government's CoWIN (Winning over COVID) platform for the individualized tracking of COVID-19 vaccinations
Caption: German Ambassador to India, Walter J. Lindner (C) and UNICEF India Representative Dr Yasmin Ali Haque (R) inspect a COVID-19 vaccine cold storage space at MMG hospital in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. UNICEF supplied the cold chain equipment with support from Germany as part of cold chain strengthening, procuring cold chain equipment which benefited 310 million people in India.
UN agencies are also supporting frontline workers with essential supplies to to provide food and medical assistance for under-privileged and vulnerable groups.
Caption: The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and local partner NGOs delivered life-saving food assistance to refugees as well as host communities to improve nutrition and to build resilience during the second wave of COVID-19.
Caption: Vandana Gupta, a community worker with SEWA, checking body temperature as part of COVID-19 safety protocols at a ration distribution centre in New Delhi. UN Women worked with women’s and civil society organizations like SEWA to support women and their families through the COVID-19 surge.
Caption: India’s four million Safai Sathis (waste pickers) are hidden environmentalists, the backbone of the country's plastic waste management system. These essential workers have been at higher risk during the pandemic, often working without protective equipment and exposed to medical waste. UNDP helped Safai Saathis access social protection systems, personal protective equipment and vaccinations throughout the surge.
“The UN in India with its teams of technical specialists, operations staff, young volunteers, frontline project personnel and support personnel, stood with India and her people through the COVID-19 surge earlier this year. We are committed to a sustainable and inclusive long-term recovery,” said Deirdre Boyd, UN Resident Coordinator in India, a.i.
