Accelerating progress towards maternal, neonatal, and child health

The global call to reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality has gained new momentum with the adoption of the World Health Assembly resolution calling for urgent investments and actions to fast-track progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to maternal, neonatal, and child mortality. This renewed focus is further emphasized by the merger of the Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP) and the Strategies to End Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM) into the Every Woman, Every Newborn, Everywhere (EWENE) initiative.

In November 2024, the EWENE West and Central Africa Regional Consultation organized by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UN Women and the Child Survival Action brought together Ministry of Health officials from 23 countries, UN agencies, development partners, and experts from the Child Survival Action (CSA) initiative to identify actionable priorities to accelerate progress towards achieving SDG 3.1 (reducing maternal mortality) and SDG 3.2 (ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under five).

The consultation was guided by the following objectives:

1. Review current progress on achieving ENAP-EPMM targets and improving the coverage and quality of key maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) interventions.
2. Share recent technical frameworks and programmatic approaches in MNCH.
3. Share country-level experiences and lessons learned to accelerate progress.
4. To identify clear priority actions and establish a monitoring and evaluation framework to track progress.

The regional meeting enabled countries to identify contextualized critical priorities for 2025–2026, including the utilization of innovative approaches to improve access to health interventions; advocating for greater resources for health and ensuring that allocated resources align with priorities; leveraging evidence for decision-making; and increasing human resources, among other identified priorities.

The countries also reflected critical gaps in their plans, such as the lack of harmonized indicators, limited adaptation and rollout of guidelines, and insufficient communication of data and sharing of experiences.

Following the identification of clear priorities and discussions regarding the coordination of efforts at both national and subnational levels to address identified gaps, the countries expressed confidence in the implementation of their plans, which are expected to accelerate progress toward the EWENE targets.

Advocacy and Accountability for Action

During the regional consultation, PATH as co-chair of the EWENE Advocacy and Accountability Working Group co-led a session with CSA focused on the MNCH Advocacy Strategy and the need to build strong advocacy coalitions to drive accelerated progress.

This session provided an opportunity for experience sharing with Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Ghana sharing their experiences on developing robust advocacy coalitions to improve coverage and quality of MNCH services.

As part of this session, countries revisited their national priorities against their acceleration plans, identified clear and immediate steps to advance MNCH outcomes and outlined required support from external partners. Countries also identified their top three advocacy priorities to accelerate progress towards MNCH targets. The identified top advocacy priorities included:

• Domestic resource mobilization and allocation for MNCH.
• Improved synergy and coordination at country level
• Strengthened human resources, infrastructure, and equipment

The session further explored barriers to building effective advocacy coalitions and reflected on the essential features of successful MNCH advocacy efforts. A key takeaway from this session was the emphasis on the need for greater coherence among development partners to enhance country-level efforts.

As we approach 2030, there is an urgent need to accelerate progress toward achieving MNCH targets. This session was well aligned with PATH’s commitment to advocate for fulfillment of policy and financial commitments to drive substantial improvements in MNCH outcomes, from the subnational to the global level, while holding participating countries accountable for commitments made at the regional level.

The session further provided an opportunity to share the global MNCH Advocacy Strategy, demonstrate the linkage between technical and advocacy agendas, and illustrate how country-level efforts can be connected to regional and global initiatives, championing for coordinated advocacy to achieve greater impact.

The regional consultation underscored the urgent need to accelerate action to reduce maternal, neonatal, and under-five mortality. At PATH we believe accelerating progress to reach global MNCH targets is possible, but urgently require strategic action. With renewed collaboration, strengthened frameworks, and clearly defined priorities, countries in West and Central Africa are now better positioned to deliver on their commitments and drive progress toward the SDGs ensuring that Every Woman, Every Newborn, Everywhere can survive and thrive.