Deputy Secretary-General Applauds ‘Outstanding’ Nigeria Country Team’s Efforts against COVID-19, in Message to Isolation Centre Commemoration Event

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to the one-year commemoration of the United Nations Nigeria Severe Acute Respiratory Isolation (SARI) Centre, today:

Today I speak with so much pride, which I have derived from my own personal interactions with you, and as the DSG [Deputy Secretary-General] of a United Nations dedicated to serving humanity.

You are more than colleagues; you’ve become friends and family to me and hundreds of others in the UN system and the diplomatic community in Nigeria.  You are our true heroes.

I am so delighted to join you today, to congratulate and thank you for the remarkable services you provided, above and beyond the call of duty, during the past year; a year we cannot forget in a hurry.

In an unprecedented time, when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging across the world, you ensured that UN Nigeria was able to deliver high-quality duty of care, reassuring your colleagues and all of us that we were in good hands as we continued to serve humanity and the people of Nigeria together.

To date, 524 colleagues have tested positive, and whether in home-based care or admitted at your facility, you provide the needed care and compassion, recording zero mortality.  With a global mortality of more than 3 million people, this is a commendable achievement, and you are just outstanding.

At a time when many scaled down, when organizations sent people home, and often for good reasons, you enabled the UNCT [United Nations country team] in Nigeria to answer the most important questions:  how can we stay and deliver?  How can we ensure that life-saving services continue under extremely challenging conditions, often at the risk of your own lives and that of your colleagues?

You were never afraid, even before we could fully ensure your protection, you insisted on doing your part, playing your role.  Thank you for your service to the United Nations and for contributing to ensuring that our work to leave no one behind continues, even during the pandemic.

Congratulations, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.