WHO Director-General's remarks at the UNGA side event: Ending Preventable Maternal, Newborn and Child Deaths: Africa's Health Sovereignty Imperative – 23 September 2026

Your Excellency Vice President;

Your Excellency First Lady of Benin;

Excellencies, Heads of State and Government;

Honourable ministers, colleagues and friends,

Habari zenu.

I would also like to thank Madam President Samia, who is not here today, and I start by passing my deepest condolences on the passing of her husband, Hafidh Ameir Hassan.

My thoughts are with her, her family and the people of Tanzania.

I thank you for bringing us together, and for your leadership as African Union Champion for Maternal and Child Health.

Over the past 25 years, Africa has made incredible progress.

Maternal mortality has dropped by 40%, and under child mortality by more than half.

And yet 2.8 million children in sub-Saharan Africa still die before their fifth birthday each year - more than half of all under-five deaths worldwide.

Africa also carries about 70 percent of global maternal deaths, while millions of children remain unvaccinated.

While progress has slowed, countries including Tanzania are showing what is possible.

In just six years, Tanzania reduced its maternal rate by 81 percent.

So in launching the Roadmap, Tanzania is leading by example.

The Three Zeros express a clear promise:

Zero home deliveries without skilled care and referral;

Zero preventable maternal and newborn deaths;

And zero unvaccinated children.

WHO is committed to supporting every Member State to adapt the Roadmap to its situation, and achieve its goals:

With clinical standards that front-line teams use to save mothers and newborns;

By strengthening surveillance systems to turn data into action;

And by leading country platforms with UNFPA and UNICEF such as Every Woman, Every Newborn, Everywhere.

While WHO is not a financing institution, we are supporting countries to move away from aid dependency towards health sovereignty, in line with the vision of the Accra Reset.

I am very pleased to see that as part of the Accra Reset, President Mahama has made maternal mortality a litmus test for progress in health, and I also appreciate the President's leadership.

Your Excellency, thank you for your leadership on this critical issue.

Together, we can turn the Three Zeros from a promise into progress, for every woman, newborn, child and adolescent in Africa.

Asante sana.