“Heart to Heart”: 14 Vodcast Episodes Raising Awareness of Mental Health in Yemen

On World Mental Health Day, October 10, Akkon University of Applied Sciences is highlighting a project by the Institute for Research in International Assistance (IRIA). With 22 episodes produced to date and 14 already published, the vodcast series “Heart to Heart” creates space for knowledge exchange and raises awareness around mental health.

According to current WHO estimates, around 7 million people in Yemen are experiencing mental health challenges and trauma as a result of the ongoing conflict. At the same time, only around 120,000 people have continuous access to mental health care and support.

In the vodcasts, Yemeni mental health professionals share their knowledge and experiences on topics such as depression, anxiety, and the psychological effects of war and displacement. The series focuses in particular on vulnerable groups, including women, children, single parents, internally displaced people and people with disabilities. In doing so, it helps raise awareness of mental health, encourages open conversations about psychological distress and contributes to reducing stigma.

The vodcast is part of the project “Rebuilding Resilience in Yemen,” commissioned by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Together with local partner organizations, IRIA works to strengthen mental health care, provide training for health professionals and community health workers, and promote awareness and stigma reduction.

“Mental health requires spaces where people can talk about it openly. With ‘Heart to Heart,’ we want to help make different perspectives visible and further strengthen mental health awareness in Yemen,” says Mara Burkhard, Research Associate at IRIA.