World Patient Safety Day 2025 webinar: Patient safety from the start
August 29, 2025
World Patient Safety Day 2025 webinar: Patient safety from the start
Country action
Rwanda
Photo © 2011 UNICEF/ Shehzad Noorani
Using a large flip chart, a female health worker gives health education to a group of pregnant women while they wait for service in a UNICEF supported MCH clinic (Maternal and Child) in the city of Musanze in northern Rwanda.
Every Woman Every Newborn in Rwanda
Download the full profile with additional key demographics, progress against milestones, and more.
This profile was developed in May 2023, using data from 2018-2023.
Photo © 2020 UNICEF/ Isaac Rudakubana
Two newborns rest in the neonatal ward of Rubavu Hospital, Rwanda.
National mortality targets
Maternal mortality ratio
126 per 100,000 live births by 2024
Stillbirth rate
No data
Neonatal mortality rate
15 per 1,000 live births by 2024
Progress to meet the national maternal, newborn mortality and stillbirth reduction targets
Photo © 2020 UNICEF/ Isaac Rudakubana
A mother in Rubavu Hospital, Rwanda practices ‘kangaroo care’ to keep her prematurely born baby warm and regulate body temperature.
Progress to meet Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere coverage targets
MNH Acceleration Plan highlights
- Develop or adapt the new guidelines on neonatal nursing care, kangaroo mother care, essential newborn care, postnatal care and safe anaesthesia in obstetrics.
- Enhance capacity for data analysis and use for decision-making among health professional at all levels (central, district , facility and community) for planning, programme monitoring, quality improvement and prioritization.
- Mobilize resources to increase the number of second-generation health posts in remote and hard-to-reach
- Strengthen supply chain management of medicines and consumables at community and health facilities levels.
- Adapt MNH package in health training institutions curriculum and strengthen capacity building on MNH package in the pre-service training, including through induction courses for new clinical staff (GPs, nurses, anaesthetist, midwives, paramedics) and by supporting the Faculty to master key MNH competences.
Photo © 2016 UNICEF/ Habib Kanobana
Jyamima Nyirahabimana recently gave birth to twins. Both babies were born premature, but Jyamima is not worried. She is being taught “Kangaroo Mother Care”, which promotes growth and regulates body temperature through skin-to-skin contact between her and the babies.
Photo © 2016 UNICEF/ Habib Kanobana
Jyamima Nyirahabimana holds her twin babies close to her body. Although both babies were born premature, but Jyamima is not worried. She has been taught the “Kangaroo Care”, which promotes growth, regulates body temperature, and encourages deeper sleep through skin-to-skin contact between her and the babies.
Quality of care in Rwanda
Rwanda’s successes in improving quality of care for maternal, newborn and child health are essential to help reduce maternal and newborn mortality and stillbirths. These include:
- Develop a RMNCH Quality of Care framework, with quality of care standards and indicators.
- Support the dissemination and scaling up of accreditation standards and quality improvement initiatives for MNH at the primary health care and referral levels.
- Strengthen the conduct of Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response reviews on a monthly basis in health facilities and quarterly at central level and facilitate the implementation of action plans.
- Conduct a study on the causes of stillbirth in Rwanda to determine the magnitude and inform development of interventions.
- Conduct a deep dive study into causes of death among premature newborns.
- Enhance the capacity for data analysis and use for decision-making among health professional at all levels (central, district , facility and community) for planning, programme monitoring, quality improvement and prioritization.
News and events
Launching the webinar Series: Strengthening product ecosystems for maternal & newborn health
August 20, 2025
A four-part series on increasing access to quality, life-saving maternal and newborn health products.
New guide on respectful maternal and newborn care
August 11, 2025
A new implementation guide to help countries provide respectful, dignified care and eliminate mistreatment across maternal and newborn health services
Resources
Compendium on respectful maternal and newborn care
August 7, 2025
The compendium supports efforts to end mistreatment and achieve respectful maternal and newborn care. It is published by WHO together with UNFPA, UNICEF and the United Nations’ Special Programme on Human Reproduction (HRP), with support from Jhpiego and the MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership programme.
Maternal and Newborn Health Fund Annual Impact Report 2024
July 16, 2025
UNFPA released the Maternal and Newborn Health Fund Annual Impact Report 2024. Since 2010, countries supported by the Maternal and Newborn Health Fund have reduced maternal mortality by 40%, nearly twice the global rate, contributing to avert an estimated 75,000 maternal deaths. The Maternal and Newborn Health Fund is UNFPA’s flagship initiative to expand equitable access to quality reproductive, maternal, and newborn healthcare.
Programme manager’s handbook for maternal, child and adolescent health
July 2, 2025
The World Health Organization maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health e-handbook is a new resource for Ministry of health programme managers. It offers step-by-step guidance for implementing effective health programmes, from planning to monitoring and evaluation, with concise overviews of key activities and interventions along the life course.
The e-handbook references WHO documents, to ensure that programme managers have access to evidence-based strategies and best practices tailored to various contexts.
This e-handbook contains a prioritised list of documents; for a full list of documents go to the resource library for maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health and ageing: https://uhcc.who.int/mca/