Gemma Chan
UNICEF UK Ambassador
“Meeting Loveness and her family who were heavily impacted by cholera… it’s so important that every family and every child has access to healthcare and vaccines – no child should be contracting a preventable disease.
I’ve seen the difference a health post like this can really make in their lives… It’s life changing.”
As part of the Futures at Risk campaign, Gemma travelled to see UNICEF’s work in Malawi. At a remote health post which took hours to reach by car, Gemma met children whose parents had brought them to be vaccinated against Cholera. Gemma met families who had only just recovered from the disease – parents, children and even tiny babies.
Gemma met Loveness, and her husband James, whose entire family had contracted cholera. Loveness told Gemma that her two older boys became sick first and then it spread to the whole family, including her one-and-a-half-year-old, Yamikani, and they all had to be hospitalised for treatment.
Loveness and her husband are farmers – Gemma heard that as climate change is making it harder to grow healthy food to eat and to make a living, families like theirs are having to turn to contaminated food, and they often get sick. If a person is less well-nourished when they catch a disease like Cholera, the chances of survival and recovery are lower.
“Vaccines are a human right, and there should be equitable access.”
There is a vaccine for Cholera, and UNICEF is partnered up through GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, to procure and deliver vaccines at scale to countries including Malawi. Gemma also saw solar panels powering the health post, which mean that vaccines can be refrigerated, and clinics are safer because they are lit up for use at night.
Loveness and her family recovered from Cholera, and when they met Gemma, the entire family were all at the health post to be vaccinated. And more families like hers will be vaccinated because they know that when they make what is often a long journey to the clinic on foot, the clinic will have the right supplies to ensure that their children will be protected.
Loveness’s children have hopes and dreams for their future. Children everywhere have the right to survive and to grow up healthy.
Advocating at the Highest Level: Futures at Risk
UNICEF UK’s Futures at Risk campaign calls on the UK Government to ensure children are prioritised in overseas aid spend. Gemma has played a vital role in this campaign, raising awareness about the growing threats to children’s futures — from conflict and displacement, to health crises and climate change.
To kick off her work on the campaign, Gemma visited UNICEF’s Supply Division – the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world. Gemma then visited UNICEF programmes in Malawi, where she saw how aid is making a difference when it can reach the most remote communities. She saw innovations in vaccine distribution using drone delivery services, and met young girls who, with UNICEF’s help, are teaching their communities how to adapt to the climate crisis.
Gemma visited Downing Street to hand in the Futures at Risk petition, with over 40,000 signatures from the UK public, to the Prime Minister. Gemma made a speech about her visit to Malawi and directly addressed MPs at a reception in Westminster.
I’ve seen how aid from the UK works. The UK Government has been a part of some amazing advances for children, including in Malawi.
Gemma Chan, UNICEF UK Ambassador
Soccer Aid for UNICEF visit to Jamaica
“I felt so welcome in this beautiful country, but the level of violence children are exposed to here is shocking.
As a football fan, Gemma has always supported Soccer Aid for UNICEF, and in 2019 she travelled to Jamaica with UNICEF to make an appeal film for Soccer Aid.
“I learned that almost 80% of children witness or experience violence in their homes or communities and many are traumatised as a result,” said Gemma.
Among the children Gemma met on her visit was 13-year-old Sabrina, who learnt Taekwondo at a UNICEF-funded after-school club in Jamaica run by Fight For Peace. She described her experience growing up to Gemma — how she had “heard gun shots all my life” and how Fight for Peace was a refuge for her.
“I’ve been coming here for three years now. I like the skill and technique I have learnt. I feel like I have more strength and more knowledge, and more fitness. I’d like to be a Taekwondo teacher, like my master,” says Sabrina.
In some of Jamaica’s inner city communities, children are exposed to alarming levels of violence on the streets, and some are showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
During Gemma’s visit to Jamaica, her eyes were opened to the reality of children’s lives, especially their exposure to violence, and the crucial steps UNICEF is taking to protect every child.
About Gemma
Gemma Chan is an actor and producer known for her roles notably in Crazy Rich Asians, Humans, Marvel’s Eternals and Don’t Worry Darling. Beyond her screen work, she has been a passionate advocate for UNICEF since 2015, and was appointed as a UNICEF UK Ambassador in 2021. She has consistently supported UNICEF’s emergency responses across the globe — from advocating for children affected by conflict and famine in Ukraine, Yemen, and the Horn of Africa, to amplifying the voices of children caught in the Gaza crisis.
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