Abstract
The paper adds to a growing body of social work research that examines service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The advent and spread of COVID-19 is a global phenomenon and social work is a global profession. Yet context is important, and the pandemic was experienced differently, as the literature on inequality has shown. Narratives of social workers in their own contexts illuminate differences and similarities and provide leads for practice in a future which many predict has forever changed. This paper is derived from qualitative interviews with ten social workers across three fields of practice in the United Arab Emirates and focuses on mental health issues from a human rights perspective.