Press Release

Community Health Workers at the centre of a joint UNICEF-EU exhibition in Brussels, Belgium

18 June 2019

  • The “Carry Hope for Yemen” exhibition will be built around the first aid kit blue bag carried by the health workers in their villages to provide lifesaving services to mothers and children in rural areas.

Sana’a/Brussels – Together with the European Union (EU), UNICEF Yemen is launching an exhibition in Brussels, Belgium to promote Community Health Workers networks and UNICEF-EU partnership to empower women in the health sector in Yemen. The exhibition will run from 21st June to 5th July and will be freely open to the public.

The “Carry Hope for Yemen” exhibition will be built around the first aid kit blue bag carried by the health workers in their villages to provide lifesaving services to mothers and children in rural areas, raising awareness about the situation of children and the caregivers in Yemen and focusing mainly on the EU-UNICEF results achieved in the areas of health and nutrition.

Yemen is currently one of the worst countries for a child to live in as it is facing a conflict which has been ongoing for more than 4 years. A child dies every 10 minutes in the country due to preventable causes, including; diseases, malnutrition, food shortage, and lack of clean water. More than 19 million, half of them being children, are in dire need of basic health care.

Together with the EU’s Development aid (EuropeAid), UNICEF launched Community Health Workers Networks in Yemen, to bring to communities much needed health services. The community health workers offer services which include immunization, screening and referral for childhood illnesses and malnutrition.

There are currently more than 1,800 community health workers in Yemen, that have been trained by the local health authorities with the support of UNICEF and the EU. So far, 639,000 under five children received health services, including malnutrition screening and treatment and more than 353,000 pregnant and lactating women were reached with maternal health and newborn care services.

Every day, the partnership between the European Union and UNICEF supports the lives of the most affected children and families in Yemen.

When and where

The Carry Hope for Yemen exhibition will tell the stories of Community Health Workers and the bags they carry to provide lifesaving services to children and their families in rural areas in Yemen.

The exhibition will open from Friday, 21st June to Friday, 5th July 2019 at the G3 Pop Up Art Gallery (Rue de la Madeleine 51, 1000 Brussels).

Read more Community Health Workers stories

Learn about the Community Health Workers Networks in Yemen [PDF]

UN entities involved in this initiative

UNICEF
United Nations Children’s Fund

Goals we are supporting through this initiative