Updates #50 from the UN country teams: Supporting the worldwide response to COVID-19 and accelerating progress towards the Global Goals

Around the world, UN teams are working with governments and other partners to combat COVID-19 and support national socio-economic recovery plans, focusing on activities to provide service to vulnerable groups. Below are some highlights of these initiatives.  

COVID-19 

Afghanistan 

3 February – Our UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, continues to provide support in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting COVID-19 vaccination initiatives and providing technical support through COVAX. With support from the UN team, more than 5.1 million people in Afghanistan have been vaccinated – nearly half of them women.  Of these, nearly 4 million have been fully vaccinated, while over a million are scheduled to get a second dose. Our team also provided risk communications support to raise awareness on and mitigate the spread of the virus. 

Cambodia

22 February – In Cambodia, the UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Pauline Tamesis, continues to support the national COVID-19 response, including supporting socio-economic programmes to recover better together. We contributed to increasing the number of young people entering the labour market while providing support to 1,518 micro, small and medium enterprises and 2,139 smallholder farmers,48 per cent of which were women, in five provinces. The Royal Government and development partners, including the UN team, also made significant investments in strengthening social protection systems and service delivery for routine and COVID-19 cash transfer programmes. 

Indonesia 

8 February – The UN in Indonesia, led by Resident Coordinator Valerie Julliand, is contributing to the on-going work to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.  The UN team is also supporting the national vaccination programme, focusing on key populations, including older persons, children, teachers and refugees. The team is supporting an ongoing programme to vaccinate refugees, including those from Rohingya community. To date, over 7,000 refugees have received their first jab, and nearly half of the total refugee population has completed their vaccinations. On the socio-economic side, the UN in Indonesia is providing cash transfer support, human rights protection services, psychosocial support services, programmes to boost food security, and support to children who lost their parents to COVID-19.  

Iran 

21 February - Under the leadership of Resident Coordinator Stefan Priesner, our UN in Iran team is supporting the government’s response to the health, humanitarian, and socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. We are contributing to boosting the overall health system, disease surveillance and outbreak response and vaccine cold chains, with WHO providing genomic sequencing (NGS) equipment to three diagnostic centres in Iran. The UN team also has programmes to increase social protection services for the most vulnerable populations. As of February 2022, 65 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated. Refugees and undocumented Afghans are included in the vaccination response, with 3.8 million having received at least one COVID-19 vaccine does and 57 per cent covered with two doses.  

Lao PDR 

16 February - The UN country team in Lao PDR, led by Resident Coordinator Sara Sekkenes, continues to support the national COVID-19 response, including through the distribution of personal protective equipment, the provision of food assistance to quarantine centres, and the supplying of medical and laboratory equipment to health institutions. While 75,000 users continue to remotely connect via Khang Panya Lao a national digital teaching and learning platform, the UN team has also been contributing to initiatives for the safe return to school. This reached 1.6 million children across 14,000 schools. Our team also supported the launch of a #VaccinateLaos campaign to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake and reinforce prevention measures across all 18 provinces.  

Mongolia 

17 February – Our UN team in Mongolia, led by Resident Coordinator Tapan Mishra, is working with the government in tackling COVID-19. The UN team provided support and coordination to the nationwide vaccination campaign, training front-line healthcare workers, providing medical equipment, and supporting on risk communications. We also contributed to the construction of a new facility for central vaccine storage, supported remote and e-learning programmes for children and contributed to initiatives protecting livelihoods, including the cashmere and dairy industries as well as local herders and women. The UN team also contributed to COVID-19 socio-economic impact studies to inform public policies, with a focus on women, girls and informal workers.  

Pakistan 

1 February – Our UN team in Pakistan, led by Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Julien Harneis, is continuing to support authorities in addressing the health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19. On the socio-economic side, the team supported a country-wide impact assessment, setting up a COVID-19 Secretariat and a tracking index to measure progress, while contributing to studies on vulnerable communities, disaster resilience, and inequality. The UN in Pakistan is also contributing to programmes that provides access to safe water, adequate sanitation and hygiene as well as psycho-social support to the local population. Our team is also working on initiatives related to education and immunizations that are not related to COVID-19. 

Samoa  

9 February - Our UN in Samoa team, which is led by Resident Coordinator Simona Marinescu, is supporting national COVID-19 response initiatives, boosting preparedness and treatment capacity. UNICEF supported authorities on the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out for children aged 12-17 while working on providing vaccination coverage for those above 18. According to WHO there have been 33 cases in Samoa and no deaths reported, with the bulk of the spike in numbers in the past month alone, which is why prevention measures have been crucial, with the UN team’s support 

Viet Nam  

24 February - Our UN Team in Viet Nam, led by Resident Coordinator a.i. Rana Flowers, is working with the government in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Our UN team is supporting authorities with a socio-economic response and recovery plan, including on assessing the impact of the pandemic and providing direct support to boost economic recovery. The UN in Vietnam organized activities that focused on supporting the recovery of micro and small enterprises and household businesses that are owned by vulnerable groups , including women and ethnic communities.  

COVAX 

Cambodia 

22 February - Nearly 90 per cent of Cambodians have been fully vaccinated to date, including 1.7 million children over the age of 12. Through COVAX and other initiatives, Cambodia has received 46 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. 

Indonesia 

8 February – Over 130 million persons have been fully vaccinated in Indonesia, with nearly 190 million having received the first COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 5.5 million receiving booster shots. To date, the COVAX facility has provided over 93 million COVID-19 vaccines to Indonesia.  

Iran 

21 February – Through the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer Mechanism, the UN in Iran facilitated the provision of 1,611,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccines for Afghan refugees. To date, the UN facilitated the delivery of almost 14 million COVID-19 vaccines to Iran through COVAX.  

Lao PDR 

18 February – To date, Lao PDR has received enough vaccines through COVAX for 3.8 million people or 52% of the population. Almost 4.2 million people in the country, which is more than half the population, have been fully vaccinated. 

Pakistan 

1 February  – The UN team has supported authorities’ efforts to fully vaccinate more than 80 million people. Nearly 105 million have received a first dose; and over 2 million have received a booster shot. Since May 2021, the UN and our partners, through the COVAX Facility, have delivered nearly 85 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan, comprising half of the total 175 million doses administered so far, including with support from several donors. 

Samoa 

February 9 – Over 270,000 doses have been administered in Samoa, with nearly 80 per cent coming through the COVAX Facility and the remaining vaccines came from Australia. 

Viet Nam  

24 February – Viet Nam has achieved its goal of vaccinating 100 per cent of the targeted population – 18 years and above. To date, 75.5 million people have been fully vaccinated, with over 191 million doses in total. Of all vaccines landing in Viet Nam, over 51 million doses (25 per cent) were received through the COVAX Facility, with WHO and UNICEF working closely to ensure vaccine distribution. 

Latin America and the Caribbean 

15 to 18 February – Haiti received two COVAX-backed COVID-19 vaccine shipments this week, with nearly 90,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the United States and over 150,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses from the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO). To date, Haiti has received more than 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses through the COVAX programme.  

Also, through COVAX, over 250,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses arrived in Jamaica from France, while over 1 million doses arrived in Costa Rica from Spain. Over in Ecuador, more than 1.5 million [Pfizer] vaccines arrived from Spain, while Bolivia received over 1.3 million additional doses [of Pfizer] from the USA. This shipment brings the total number of COVID-19 vaccines received by Bolivia through COVAX to 8 million. 

To date, the COVAX facility delivered nearly 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.  

OTHER AREAS OF WORK  

Brazil 

23 February – Under the leadership of Resident Coordinator Silvia Rucks, the UN in Brazil launched a partnership with the inter-state consortium that gathers all nine states of the Amazon in Brazil to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the region. This initiative includes the creation of an SDG monitoring mechanism and the development of proposals to raise external and internal funds to finance sustainable development activities. Currently, there are 16 UN entities working in the Amazonian states; by working with all Amazonian states, the UN will reach the 30 million people that live in the 5.1 million km2 in the area.  

Cameroon 

17 February – Our Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Cameroon, Mathias Naab – along with the UN team and humanitarian partners – condemned in the strongest terms recent attacks that destroyed schools in the country. Two recent incidents are the latest among a series of attacks on students, education staff and premises, depriving more than 700,000 students from their right to proper and safe education in the northwestern and southwestern parts of the country, Mr. Naab said in a statement. He called on all perpetrators to refrain from actions that impede access to education, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2601 (2021).  

Malawi 

4 February – Our UN team in Malawi led by Resident Coordinator a.i. Rudolf Schwenk, is supporting the government after heavy rains from Tropical Storm Ana have caused floods, destruction, and fatalities. While nearly 200,000 households have been affected and more than 22,000 families have been displaced, emergency evacuation centres constructed by the UN before the floods hit have saved many lives and provide critical shelter. The UN in Malawi is also providing food and non-food assistance as well as rapid assessment support for a coordinated response to the crisis.  

18 February – In Malawi, authorities declared a polio outbreak after a case was detected in a young child in the capital city. This is the first polio case in Malawi in 30 years, and in Africa in more than five years. Authorities and the UN team are immediately addressing this, as polio is a highly infectious virus-spread disease that can cause total paralysis within hours. In response, our UN team is supporting health authorities to intensify surveillance for the disease through contact tracing and active case searching. Authorities are assessing risks and responding to the outbreak, including by further boosting immunization, with support from WHO and UNICEF.    

Moldova 

28 February to 1 March – Our UN team in Moldova, comprising 23 entities on the ground, is helping authorities address the needs of over 70,000 refugees from Ukraine who have arrived to date. UNHCR will lead the Refugee Response Plan at regional and local levels, including in Moldova, and is rushing aid in as quickly as possible. The UN team undertook several assessment trips to the Moldova-Ukraine border and has provided 3,000 dignity kits for girls, women, and older persons. They have also distributed informational leaflets (17,000 in Ukrainian, 10,000 in Russian, 7,000 in English) at border crossings since last week. We are also working on COVID-19 prevention measures by providing items including respirators, non-contact infrared thermometers, and hygiene materials — as well as special accommodation for women, children, and LGBTQI families/couples, along with tent heaters and blankets. More support is on the way.

Peru 

14 February – A UN technical mission is supporting the Government of Peru in their response to the country’s largest oil spill at sea in recent times. According to UN Resident Coordinator Igor Garafulic the mission is finalizing its findings report. The team met with authorities last Friday to convey specific recommendations to manage the environmental, social and humanitarian impacts of the oil spill, as well as on how to strengthen nationwide disaster preparation and response mechanisms. Our UN team in Peru will continue to support the authorities’ response, including through social impact assessments, with FAO, UNDP and the World Bank. 

Tonga 

15 February – In a statement marking the one-month anniversary of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano and subsequent tsunami, Resident Coordinator Samarasinha reiterated the UN’s solidarity with the people of Tonga. Approximately 85 per cent of the country’s population was impacted by the dual disaster on 15 January which killed four people and left over 2,500 people internally displaced. He acknowledged the resilience of the people of Tonga, the determination of Tonga’s leaders, and the support of the global community.