Kathmandu, June 23:  The United Nations Country Team in Nepal - together with over thirty national and international organizations - collectively launched the Maya Phailaun (Spread Love) Campaign, calling for an end to stigma and discrimination against people, amidst the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in the country.    

"It has been five months since the first person who had COVID-19 was reported in Nepal. Since then, there have been alarming accounts of stigmatization against COVID-19 recovered people and their families, returnee migrant workers, health workers, and vulnerable groups, including people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and abilities. Right now, it is not only the virus itself that we must protect ourselves against. It is also fear, rumours and stigma.

Our greatest powers are facts, reason and unity," reads a press statement issued on the occasion of launching of the Campaign today.    

The Campaign calls on everyone to spread messages of love and hope in support of those who are affected by the COVID-19 crisis.    

The collective press statement was issued by the following organizations: FAO, ILO, IOM, UMN, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNIC, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNRC, UNV, UNWOMEN, USAID, WFP, WHO, Association of Community radio broadcaster (CIN), Association of International NGOs in Nepal (AIN), BBC Media Action, CARE Nepal, Catholic Relief Services, DCA, Felm-Nepa, FINRC, Handicap International, Helen Keller International, Housing

Recovery and Reconstruction Platform (HRRP) – Nepal, IPAS, Lutheran, Mercy Crops, Nepal Red Cross Society, NRCS, People in Need, Plan International, Practical Action, PSI, Save the Children, TDH, Tilganga, VSO International, Winrock International, World Vision, WWF and Yuwalaya.