As countries move towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring good health and wellbeing remains a top global priority. This story highlights the contributions of two UN Volunteers to the public health system in Sudan, which is severely affected by years of underfunding. The situation is further complicated by humanitarian needs reaching record levels in the country.

Serving as a Public Health Specialist with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Khartoum, national UN Volunteer Mohamed Maher Saad works closely with the Federal Ministry of Health in data collection. He is supporting the development of a digital library which will make a health database and research available to medical personnel and students, who can also use it to publish studies and research papers.

Additionally, Mohamed is helping with the development of a mobile application called Health Pulse. This will facilitate disease surveillance and treatment, tracking of epidemic outbreaks and management of chronic diseases.

Despite the challenges Mohamed faces in his work, namely scarcity and inaccuracy of health-related data in Sudan, he is proud of being a part of these two projects and witnessing them come to life.

"High-quality health data is essential for responding to specific health needs, monitoring progress and evaluating the impact of health programmes. It is vital for good public health decisions and informed policymaking." --Mohamed Maher Saad, national UN Volunteer with UNDP, Sudan

For Mohamed, serving as a UN Volunteer has been an opportunity to meet new people, discover new passions, and gain new insights about himself and the world around him. More broadly, he sees volunteering as a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges.