Dear Young Diplomats,
It is with great sorrow and sadness that we are following the COVID-19 crisis which has shaken our modern world as the number of victims and countries affected by the pandemic continues to grow every day. Drastic but necessary measures such as closing public places, banning gatherings, restricting traveling and government mandates for partial or total quarantines worry a lot of us about the future of humanity and our work on pushing for a better future.
These are very difficult moments and COVID-19 is clearing impacting our personal and professional lives, and those that we love. I wanted to wish you, your loved ones and fellow colleagues safe passage through this difficult times. We are facing a health threat unlike any other in our lifetimes. The pandemic, which is spreading at an alarming speed, reminds us that solidarity only works when it is built between people without distinction of religion, race, gender, social class, abilities, or age.
At this awkward moment, we are all just humans worried about our survival and saddened by the suffering of our fellow people. During these trying times, neither wealth nor powers are guarantees of life because this virus spares no one. People are faced with the reality that we must fight together to protect the most vulnerable in our societies from the virus, although we know the virus’ deadly effects are not only limited to them.
Dear members, we are more than 40,000 individuals and more than 100 partners in this movement. Therefore we must use our numbers, networks, skills, and expertise to fight against this virus in this period of crisis. We appeal to your great faith in peace and development because it alone can save humanity. We appeal to this unique spirit of solidarity that led you to join our global organization by asking you to play a vital role so that together we can all curb this terrible pandemic. As such, we suggest that you:
- Wipe down frequently touched surfaces
- If you’re working from home, get up and take a 3min break every 30min.
- Follow to your best ability the various World Health Organization recommendations on how to prevent the spread of the virus
- Share these recommendations with your networks, followers on social media, and anyone who may not be able to access them
- Try not to read or watch too much news if it makes you anxious
- Send us suggestions on how Young Diplomats movement can help amplify efforts to prevent the spread of the virus
- Look after your mental health.
- Create corona virus memes to bring some smiles to people’s faces
- Follow up and make sure your government is making appropriate use of the resources dedicated to stopping the spread of the virus
- Cancel or postpone any events or large gatherings that you have already planned
- Stay home, avoid contact with others if you are sick and wash your hands regularly
Let us know how you are creatively and innovatively doing your social responsibility work either online or offline during this difficult time. Please email your strategies to one of the following emails:
youngdiplomatsafrica@gmail.com
editor@young-diplomats.com
We thank you very much for your unfailing solidarity and we count on your unwavering commitment to development, peace, and dignity.
In Solidarity,
Together, we’ll get through this!
