Save the Children Empower Front-liners of Community Health Workers in Yemen

At a time when hospitals and facilities are being targeted and large swathes of the population are displaced, traumatized, and homeless, health care needs to be immediate and accessible. As the first level of frontline health workers in many fragile and humanitarian settings, community health workers (CHWs) can be key to promoting health system and community resilience, the continuation of essential services, and effective emergency response.

Community health workers are a critical link to impoverished and marginalized communities who need to access health care in Yemen. There is a need to accelerate investment in health worker’s education, skills, and jobs and make sure they prioritize health care worker’s fair remuneration and their retention — including nurses and midwives, especially in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

Save the Children is working to increase access to care at the health facility and community level, and to improve the quality of care by providing more training for community health workers. The project is also trying to increase the demand for community health care worker's services among children's caregivers. Through this project, Save the Children have worked with the ministry of health to support the hiring of community health workers where they’re needed and ensure they can be in the community they serve without having to travel too far away and expose themselves to dangers. Save the Children is also working with the community and traditional leaders to increase the acceptance of community health workers, resulting in strengthening their link to the community.