My Phone Friend: Remote Support for People in Isolation Launched in Ukraine

In response to the secondary impacts of COVID-19 in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Volunteer Service (UVS) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have launched My Phone Friend, a project to support people who feel lonely. The project's youth volunteers will make phone calls to those who need them - for instance single older adults, people with disabilities and parents with many children - to share useful information or just to find out how things are going.

The COVID-19 pandemic not only highlighted the problem of loneliness, but also exacerbated it. Going out and seeing others is still a risk for many people. Even though quarantine measures are gradually being lifted, COVID-19 has not disappeared and remains a threat. My Phone Friend addresses growing loneliness, and gives young people a new avenue to join the fight against the consequences of the pandemic. Everyone can now become an - often much-needed - interlocutor, and a source of verified information about COVID-19 and how to protect yourself.

"Overcoming loneliness and bringing people closer in times that require distance is undoubtedly an unprecedented challenge that no organization can address alone. This is why we are calling upon Ukrainian youth to help. We hope that this project will be an effective response to the secondary impacts of COVID-19 and will start a successful tradition of telephone volunteering in Ukraine,” said Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine. 

“Telephone volunteering has two roles: individual and public. On the one hand, "My Phone Friend" will help to improve the lives of specific people who will get a chance to feel involved, receive information not only ‘from TV’ and get through the times of crisis more easily. At the same time, telephone volunteering is a tool to increase social trust, as well as to debunk stereotypes that, for example, strangers are not ready to help each other," says Anna Bondarenko, the project’s coordinator.

The Ukrainian project is based on successful international experience. A similar initiative in the UK has already mobilized 250,000 volunteers to support people aged 60 and older who feel lonely during quarantine. To become a telephone volunteer in Ukraine, one needs to register on the "My Telephone Friend" platform, and read information and advice from project experts.

If you or someone you know could benefit from having regular contact with a young person who will make phone calls to share useful information or just keep company, please contact the project hotline at 0 800 202 147 (Monday to Friday from 12:00 until 20:00).

My Phone Friend project is being implemented as part of UNICEF’s National Solidarity Campaign and with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).