Our Focus
Call to action
© UNFPA.
Esther is a humanitarian midwife trained by UNFPA to support women and girls who are internally displaced in DRC due to conflict. Risks of complications during pregnancy and birth increase during a crisis. Here in the village of Zaa, jn the ‘Logo’ health zone, in October 2023.
Call to action
© WHO
A newborn in Al-Alwiya Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, in May 2023.
6 years to the SDG deadline: 6 actions to reduce unacceptably high maternal, newborn and child deaths and stillbirths.
1
Match SDG commitments with investments
2
Invest in all stages of the life course
3
Be strategic
4
Think local
5
Improve data
6
Build alliances
1
Match SDG commitments with investments
Strong leadership that is backed by adequate resources and strong partnerships drives progress for women and children. Several low-and lower-middle-income countries, including Malawi and Rwanda, outperformed global averages, reducing newborn and child mortality rates by more than two thirds since 2000, demonstrating that it is feasible to accelerate progress when political will is matched by policy, resources and focused action[1].
2
Invest in all stages of the life course
3
Be strategic
Make strategic choices backed with sustained investment for health interventions that are country specific. We know that at least 70% of all maternal deaths are due to direct obstetric causes[3]. For newborns and children under-5, prematurity, birth asphyxia and trauma, acute respiratory infections, malaria and diarrhoea are the leading causes of death, often compounded by malnutrition[4].
Based on each country’s context and priorities, choose which packages of interventions are the most needed and impactful. They should be delivered, with quality and equity, by a competent, well-trained and equipped workforce including midwives, specialised nurses to care for small and sick newborns, community health workers, and allied professionals. The foundation of care should be primary health care (PHC) with an emphasis on community-based services and linkages to referral care.
4
Think local
Vast disparities exist within a country in accessing quality MNH services. To respond to local needs, MNH programmes should be planned, implemented and monitored at the sub-national/local level. Political commitments must adequately recognise and address underlying social determinants of health to overcome inequalities.
5
Improve data
Use national and subnational data for policy and programmatic decisions to improve the quality of health care delivered, and to reduce inequities and drive local change. Ensure synergies across different data sets to avoid duplication of efforts to reduce burden on health workers and health systems.
6
Build alliances
Work in multisector, multistakeholder partnerships that include the private sector, professional bodies, communities, and allied health sectors such as Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), nutrition, immunization and malaria. Align partners’ investments behind country priorities.
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