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OLIVIA WILDE AND RYOT
NEWS IN SENEGAL TO SUPPORT THE ONE MILLION COMMUNITY HEALTH
WORKERS CAMPAIGN
New campaign aims to transform healthcare in sub-Saharan
Africa by deploying
1 million health workers by 2015.
Dakar, Senegal, Thursday, July 25, 2013: Today, actress
Olivia Wilde and RYOT
News co-founders
David Darg and Bryn Mooser are in Senegal to document
first-hand the work of the One Million Community Health
Workers Campaign, which is working to develop cadres of
community health workers in sub-Saharan Africa by 2015 to
meet the health-related Millennium Development Goals.
In Senegal, Wilde will shadow community health workers and
visit with the community to learn why their work is so
important to the health of sub-Saharan Africa’s poor. Live
updates and photo/video content will be posted daily on
RYOT.org throughout the trip to expand awareness of the
campaign. Follow the campaign here:
www.ryot.org/1Mhealthworkers
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, who launched the campaign with African
heads of state at the annual meeting of the African Union
earlier this year, stated, “The work of community health
workers will transform health care delivery across the
continent and is critical to meet the health-related
Millennium Development Goals. We are moving rapidly with
governments, NGOs and private partners to train and deploy
community health workers across Africa. We are all deeply
grateful to RYOT and Olivia for putting their great creative
talents into this project and supporting the life-saving
work of community health workers.”
“I am thrilled to be a part of this campaign,” said Wilde.
“It is essential that people not only see the work that is
happening on the ground but also understand why this
campaign is so central to improving global health. I’m so
pleased that Jeffrey Sachs has invited me to join his team
and that RYOT will tell the story.”
In a joint statement, RYOT News co-founders David Darg and
Bryn Mooser said, “We are so excited to be in Senegal with
Olivia and the One Million Community Health Workers
Campaign. As filmmakers, it is our goal to tell the stories
that go untold. We are thrilled with the opportunity to
share with the world updates from the ground on RYOT.org and
produce footage of our trip with Olivia to educate the
masses about this important campaign.”
Having spent a combined 7 years in West Africa and as
speakers of three local languages, Darg and Mooser are very
familiar with Senegal and the development of the country.
Darg and Mooser said, “West Africa is a changing landscape,
economically and socially, and will be an important part of
the world in the coming decade as the region further
develops. Community health workers are vital to that
development. This is why the One Million Community Health
Workers Campaign is so important.”
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More on RYOT News: RYOT.org is
a new social news platform that connects each news story
with opportunities to engage with a cause or organization
and take action. Created by David Darg and Bryn Mooser in
partnership with Sophia Bush and Ian Somerhalder, RYOT aims
to change the way people consume news by providing
opportunities to engage with a cause and take action for
each story. RYOT aggregates news to enable the public to
find out about what’s going on in the world and what they
can do to take a stand for positive change. For more
information on RYOT and to follow the campaign, please visit
www.ryot.org/1Mhealthworkers
More on One Million
Community Health Workers Campaign: The
One Million Community Health Workers Campaign is working
with governments, NGOs and the private sector to train,
equip and deploy a scale-up of efforts already in place and
build integrated health systems that include community
health workers. Most recently, the campaign was brought on
as a central pillar of the Global Poverty Project’s Global
Citizen Festival, reaching millions of people this fall.
The campaign was launched earlier this year by Prof. Jeffrey
Sachs (Director of The Earth Institute, Columbia University
and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals) and Rwandan
President Paul Kagame. The campaign aims to expand and
accelerate community health worker programs in sub-Saharan
African countries. Visit
www.1millionhealthworkers.org
to learn more.
Follow the campaign:
· Twitter:
@1Mhealthworkers
· Facebook.com/1millionhealthworkers
and Instagram.com/1millionhealthworkers
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