UNFPA, Danish NGO launch safer births initiative for sub-Saharan Africa

The United Nations Family Planning Agency (UNFPA), and Maternity Foundation, a Danish non-governmental organisation (NGO), have announced the ’10 Million Safer Births Initiative’.

The initiative was launched in Abuja under the patronage of Queen Mary of Denmark, with the commitment to support 10 million births across sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2030.

Announcing her patronage, the queen said she was proud to back the initiative and added that “no woman should risk life to give life”.

The initiative is also supported by the government of Denmark and the Gates Foundation. Denmark will provide a $4.9 million investment, and the Gates Foundation will allocate an additional $1.5 million.

In the initiative’s first phase, midwives and frontline health workers will be supported in strengthening maternal and newborn care in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.

The Maternity Foundation’s safe delivery+ programme, which includes the free safe delivery app, will also be scaled up in this phase.

The safe delivery app provides healthcare professionals, particularly midwives in low-resource settings, with access to evidence-based guidelines and video demonstrations on preventative, routine, and emergency maternal and newborn care on their mobile devices.

Natalia Kanem, UNFPA executive director, said access to quality midwifery care can spell the difference between life and death for women and their babies.

She added that the initiative will give midwives the tools to save lives in some of the most challenging settings.

“UNFPA is grateful to Her Majesty Queen Mary of Denmark and the Danish Government and Gates Foundation supporting this important effort to make childbirth safer,” she said.

Anna Frellsen, CEO of Maternity Foundation, said the initiative brings together innovation, data, and collaboration across sectors to strengthen maternal care where it is most needed.

“We will not close the gap in maternal mortality by 2030 by doing the same as we always did. We need to rethink the way things are done,” she said.

“Together, we can transform outcomes for millions of women and their newborns.”

Paulin Basinga, Africa Director of the Gates Foundation, said the initiative is about equality, as too many women in Africa face life-threatening risks in childbirth simply because of where they live.

“Healthy mothers and babies are the foundations of vibrant communities — and midwives play a key role in helping them thrive,” Basinga said.

“By coming together across sectors and borders, we have a real opportunity to close that gap and transform care at the very start of life.”

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Danish foreign minister, described the initiative as bold, adding that “every woman has the right to give birth safely, and we are committed to making that a reality”.