The side event was convened at a critical moment in global health, under the broader WHA79 context of reshaping health systems through shared responsibility and locally led accountability. It highlighted Kenya’s experience in advancing Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) as a practical governance tool for reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths, while also promoting peer learning, digitization, and stronger coordination between national and sub-national health systems.

Professor Adelegan’s presentation, titled “The Role of Right Leadership and Governance in Ending Preventable Maternal and Neonatal Deaths and Advancing Health Equity and Justice: Lessons from PPD 28 Member Countries,” emphasized that preventable maternal and neonatal deaths are not only health outcomes but also reflections of leadership, governance, equity, and justice. Drawing on lessons from PPD Member Countries, he underscored the importance of political commitment, accountable institutions, equitable financing, community-centered primary health care, and South-South cooperation in improving maternal and newborn survival.

In his remarks, the Executive Director highlighted successful policy and governance experiences from countries such as Bangladesh, Rwanda, Indonesia, and Egypt, demonstrating how leadership and institutional accountability can help expand access to skilled care, strengthen referral systems, improve data use, and accelerate progress in maternal and newborn health. He reaffirmed PPD’s role as an intergovernmental platform for policy dialogue, technical cooperation, knowledge exchange, capacity building, and shared learning among developing countries.

Professor Adelegan used the platform to call for strengthened political commitment, increased domestic health financing, stronger primary health care systems, equity-focused universal health coverage, improved accountability and data systems, deeper South-South Cooperation, and greater women’s leadership in health governance. He stressed that maternal and newborn survival must remain both a public health priority and a moral imperative.

PPD’s participation in the side event reflected the organization’s continued commitment to advancing practical, country-led solutions to reproductive, maternal, newborn, and population health challenges through South-South and Triangular Cooperation. The engagement also reinforced PPD’s readiness to work with governments, global partners, and regional actors to promote evidence-based leadership and accountable governance for better health outcomes.

The high-level side event, titled “Digitising the Maternal Health Workforce: From a National Partnership to a Continental Ecosystem,” was not a routine conference panel, it was a focused, action-oriented dialogue designed to move beyond fragmented and short-term interventions, and to explore realistic, coordinated pathways toward a digitised, government-anchored ecosystem for the maternal health workforce at continental scale. The meeting also marked a significant institutional moment, with the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and Proximie, witnessed by participating ministers and senior delegates.

Professor Adelegan opened his remarks with a sobering reminder of what is at stake. Africa continues to bear a disproportionate share of global maternal deaths, with the heaviest burden falling on rural and underserved communities that are often the furthest from care. Behind these statistics, he noted, lie systemic failures that have persisted for too long, workforce shortages, uneven distribution of skilled personnel, weak referral systems, inadequate remuneration, fragmented information systems, and critical infrastructure gaps. These are not new problems, but they demand a new kind of response.

That response, he argued, must be rooted in digitisation not as a buzzword, but as a genuine strategic tool for transforming how the maternal health workforce is trained, deployed, supported, and retained. Drawing on concrete examples, Professor Adelegan outlined a range of digital interventions capable of making a tangible difference: mobile health platforms that extend the reach of frontline workers, digital workforce training that delivers updated clinical guidance at scale, telemedicine and remote consultation services that connect rural facilities to specialist care, artificial intelligence tools for predictive risk assessment and decision support, and digital payment systems that can improve both workforce retention and accountability. Together, he emphasized, these tools can strengthen communication, support earlier identification of high-risk pregnancies, and enable more effective, data-driven governance of health systems.

Yet Professor Adelegan was equally candid about the risks of the status quo. Too many promising national digital health projects remain trapped in their own silos unable to scale because of weak interoperability, limited sustainable financing, and insufficient regional coordination. The solution, he argued, is not more isolated projects, but a genuinely continental ecosystem: one that supports interoperable digital health records, cross-border workforce credentialing, shared digital health standards, regional training platforms, and coordinated maternal health data systems that can inform policy and investment across borders.

He also raised a challenge that is easy to overlook in high-level discussions: the risk that digital transformation widens, rather than narrows, existing inequalities. For digitisation to truly reach the mothers who need it most, he stressed that affordable devices, digital literacy training, language-inclusive interfaces, continuous technical support, and deliberate investment in rural digital infrastructure including reliable electricity and broadband connectivity are not optional add-ons but essential foundations. He further underlined the importance of data governance, privacy protections, and cybersecurity as pillars of trust that must be built into any sustainable digital health system from the outset.

Underpinning all of this, Professor Adelegan called for strong public-private partnerships and close alignment with Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) commitments  ensuring that digital innovation is not pursued in isolation, but as part of a broader architecture of accountability and long-term financing.

In closing, he reaffirmed that digitising the maternal health workforce represents one of the most promising and most urgent pathways to improving maternal healthcare delivery across Africa. Success, he concluded, will not come from fragmented initiatives, but from integrated, partnership-driven ecosystems that bring together governments, international organizations, technology providers, and communities in genuine collaboration. PPD’s participation in the dialogue reflected its enduring commitment to advancing South-South and Triangular Cooperation, strengthening health systems, and supporting practical, scalable innovation in service of better maternal and newborn health outcomes across the Global South.

The event, titled “Reverse Pitch: Governments Setting the Innovation Agenda,” was organized by the Health Innovation Exchange (HIEx) and brought together an influential mix of government leaders, innovators, investors, and development partners. What made it stand apart was its refreshingly bold premise: instead of innovators pitching to governments, it was the governments doing the pitching, laying out their most pressing national health challenges and inviting the innovation community to respond. By enabling Ministers and senior government officials to define the agenda, the model aims to accelerate solutions that are genuinely policy-aligned, catalyze targeted investment, and carve clearer pathways from promising pilots to sustainable, nationwide implementation. The dialogue was designed not just to spark ideas, but to forge lasting partnerships and co-investment that can drive long-term systems transformation.

Professor Adelegan’s presentation resonated deeply with the spirit of the event. Speaking with conviction, he made a compelling case that PPD’s 28 Member Countries must not be treated as passive recipients of outside innovation, they must be recognized and empowered as architects of their own transformation. He highlighted an honest picture of the shared realities facing health systems across the Global South: rising disease burdens, critical workforce shortages, fragile primary health care infrastructure, constrained budgets, and the compounding pressures of climate change and humanitarian crises. Against this backdrop, he argued that innovation detached from national priorities, regulatory frameworks, and real service delivery contexts is innovation that will ultimately fall short.

He outlined the priorities that cut across PPD Member States primary health care transformation, health workforce retention, maternal and adolescent health, digital interoperability, and sustainable financing. He called for a deeper, more deliberate alignment between governments, innovators, and investors, one that produces solutions that are not just effective in theory, but scalable and affordable in practice.

His remarks carried an unmistakable sense of urgency around one particular challenge: the persistent gap between pilots and policy. Too often, he noted, the global health community celebrates successful pilots that never grow beyond their original scope. Closing that gap, he argued, requires country-led design from day one, early alignment with policy processes, integrated financing conversations, and regulatory engagement that begins at the start, not as an afterthought.

One of the most compelling dimensions of Professor Adelegan’s remarks was his articulation of PPD’s unique role as a platform for South-South Cooperation. He highlighted the practical advantages Member States can offer one another: shared implementation experiences, joint procurement possibilities, common digital standards, regional innovation hubs, and peer-to-peer technical assistance. As an intergovernmental body, PPD is distinctly positioned to facilitate this cross-country learning and translate it into collective progress toward resilient and equitable health systems.

The event concluded with a call to action for governments to lead with clear priorities, for innovators to design for scale and affordability, for investors to finance transformation rather than short-term experimentation, and for development partners to enable genuine country ownership. PPD’s participation in the dialogue reflected its continuing commitment to advancing South-South and Triangular Cooperation and to supporting practical, country-driven innovation for better health outcomes across the Global South.

The meeting provided an important platform for reaffirming the longstanding partnership between PPD and UNFPA and for advancing a shared commitment to the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Discussions were held under the theme, “Reinvigorating South-South Cooperation and Catalytic Financing for the ICPD Agenda Beyond 2030.”

The PPD delegation was led by Professor Joseph Akinkugbe Adelegan, Executive Director of PPD, and included H.E. Dr. Muhammad B.S. Jallow, PPD Board and Executive Committee Member and Honorable Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia; H.E. Lamin B. Dibba serving as Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Republic of The Gambia to the United Nations in New York; Ms. Angelina Kodua Nyanor, Member of the PPD Board and Acting Executive Director of the National Population Council of Ghana; and other distinguished delegates.

The exchange focused on strengthening strategic alignment between the forthcoming PPD Strategic Plan 2026–2030 and the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2026–2029, with particular emphasis on accelerating progress in sexual and reproductive health and rights, reducing preventable maternal deaths, responding to demographic change, and advancing resilience through country-led and rights-based approaches. Both sides underscored the continued relevance of South-South and triangular cooperation as a practical instrument for sharing policy innovation, technical expertise and tested solutions across the Global South.

The discussion also addressed the growing financing constraints affecting population and development programmes, including declining official development assistance for reproductive health. In this context, the meeting explored opportunities for closer collaboration on joint resource mobilization and innovative financing mechanisms to support sustainable investments in family planning, maternal health, healthy ageing and broader population dynamics. The dialogue reflected a shared recognition that catalytic financing and strengthened domestic ownership will be essential to sustaining progress on the ICPD agenda in the years ahead.

During the meeting, the PPD delegation also extended an invitation to Ms. Keita to participate in the 23^rd International Inter-Ministerial Conference (IIMC 2026), to be hosted by the Government of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing in October 2026. The conference remains a key platform for political leadership, policy dialogue and international solidarity in support of South-South cooperation on population and development.

Another important area of discussion was the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between PPD and UNFPA, with both sides reflecting on the value of updating the partnership framework in line with emerging global priorities, new strategic cycles and the evolving financing landscape. The meeting further highlighted the importance of developing practical implementation arrangements that can translate institutional commitment into measurable country-level results.

The bilateral engagement concluded with a strong spirit of partnership and mutual resolve. The meeting reaffirmed the determination of PPD and UNFPA to work closely in support of equitable, inclusive and sustainable development outcomes, while strengthening collective action to ensure that the ICPD agenda remains central to global development efforts beyond 2030.

The 59^th Session, held from 13 to 17 April 2026, convened under the theme of population, technology, and research in the context of sustainable development. Speaking on behalf of PPD’s 28 member countries—which represent nearly 60 percent of the global population—Professor Adelegan acknowledged the progress made since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), while starkly highlighting the challenges that remain.

In his address during the first day of the plenary session of the Commission, Professor Adelegan presented sobering statistics that underscore the urgency of the moment. He noted that while 380 million women and girls in low- and lower-middle-income countries are now using modern contraception, the global maternal mortality ratio remains unacceptably high at 197 deaths per 100,000 live births—far above the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of less than 70 .

“The evidence is clear: progress has been made, but the gaps remain too wide,” Professor Adelegan stated. “Globally, about 260,000 women died in 2023 from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and 92 per cent of those deaths occurred in low- and lower-middle-income countries.”

To address these disparities, the Executive Director proposed a comprehensive three-pillar framework:

1. Investing in Primary Health Care: Prioritizing midwifery, community health workers, commodity security, and rights-based family planning.
2. Closing the Digital Divide: Moving beyond infrastructure to invest in local research capacity, data governance, and digital literacy.
3. Bridging the Financing Gap: Utilizing both traditional and innovative financial instruments to meet the estimated US$4 trillion annual SDG financing shortfall.

A central theme of the Executive Director’s address was the critical need for innovative and catalytic financing. With traditional Official Development Assistance (ODA) under pressure, Professor Adelegan emphasized that new financial models are essential to safeguard hard-won gains in reproductive health.

He highlighted that an additional US$79 billion investment by 2030 in family planning and maternal health would generate approximately US$660 billion in economic benefits, yielding nearly US$27 in health and economic returns for every dollar invested . To unlock this potential, he advocated for mechanisms such as blended finance, results-based financing, pooled procurement, and social impact bonds to de-risk investments and crowd in private capital.

Concluding his statement, the Executive Director issued a clear call to action to the international community.

“The message from this Commission should be clear: the ICPD agenda is achievable, but only if we match political declarations with data, technology, financing and implementation partnerships.”

PPD remains steadfast in its commitment to working alongside Member States, the United Nations system, and development partners to scale best practices, mobilize catalytic financing, and accelerate the delivery of the ICPD Programme of Action.

Addressing an expert panel and international delegates in Conference Room 12 at UN Headquarters, Professor Adelegan synthesized the core themes of the session, which highlighted successful capacity-building models in Pakistan, Uganda, and Kenya. He articulated a compelling vision for the future of demographic intelligence in the Global South. “We are witnessing a paradigm shift from data production to data sovereignty. Countries are increasingly becoming producers, owners, and users of their own demographic intelligence” Professor Adelegan noted in his address.

He emphasized that effective capacity development must move beyond ad-hoc workshops toward institutionalized systems embedded within national structures. Furthermore, he highlighted how South-South and Triangular Cooperation are evolving into dynamic platforms for scale, innovation, and technology transfer, particularly in the context of digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Professor Adelegan reaffirmed PPD’s unique role as an intergovernmental organization of 28 member countries, uniquely positioned to advance this agenda. He outlined PPD’s readiness to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and knowledge exchange among member states, support the scaling of successful models such as the AI-enabled forecasting systems and PADIS-INT tools presented at the event, and collaborate with UNFPA, UN DESA, and partners to strengthen national capacities in population data systems, particularly in sexual and reproductive health. In his concluding remarks, he offered three forward-looking reflections: the need to move from tools to systems through robust institutional ecosystems; the imperative to bridge the gap between data and policy by integrating population data into national development planning and budgeting; and the call to ensure equity, transparency, and trust as developing countries embrace AI and digital innovation. “The task ahead is to move from capacity to sustainability, from data to intelligence, and from cooperation to co-creation,” he concluded.

On the sidelines of the event, Professor Adelegan held a highly productive bilateral meeting with the leadership of CPDRC, including Ms. MA Aili, Deputy Director-General, CPDRC, and Dr. Mengjun TANG, Research Fellow at CPDRC. Professor Adelegan expressed deep appreciation for the Chinese government’s steadfast support for South-South Cooperation in population and development. He provided an overview of PPD’s ongoing 2026–2030 strategic planning and updates on the new Executive Committee, emphasizing that investing in population and development yields greater returns than economic investments alone. He commended China’s remarkable achievements in human-centered development, particularly in health and education, noting that China’s experience offers invaluable lessons for other developing nations. Professor Adelegan also expressed PPD’s strong willingness to strengthen collaboration with CPDRC, highlighting the immense potential of leveraging PPD’s extensive intergovernmental network alongside CPDRC’s role as a Population and Development South-South Cooperation Center of Excellence to enhance capacity building, experience sharing, and policy exchange among member countries.

In response, Ms. MA Aili affirmed CPDRC’s unwavering commitment to building a robust cooperative relationship with PPD. She stressed the critical importance of disseminating China’s experiences and technical expertise, and working closely with developing countries to advance shared goals in population and development. The meeting underscored the dedication of both organizations to deepening South-South Cooperation and supporting sustainable, evidence-based population policies across PPD member states.

]]> https://www.partners-popdev.org/ppd-executive-director-champions-data-sovereignty-and-deepens-strategic-ties-with-cpdrc-at-cpd59/feed/ 0 https://www.partners-popdev.org/ppd-calls-for-transformative-financing-and-south-south-cooperation-to-end-preventable-maternal-and-child-deaths/ https://www.partners-popdev.org/ppd-calls-for-transformative-financing-and-south-south-cooperation-to-end-preventable-maternal-and-child-deaths/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2026 16:26:14 +0000 http://www.partners-popdev.org/?p=6314 ...]]> NAIROBI, Kenya – 24 March 2026 – Professor Dr. Joseph Akinkugbe Adelegan, Executive Director of Partners in Population and Development (PPD), delivered a powerful closing address at a high-level policy side event at the International Maternal New-Born Health Conference (IMNHC) 2026, calling for a radical shift in financing and cooperation to end preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths.

The event, titled “Shaping the Future of MNCH: Country-Led Policy & Financing Dialogue,” was convened by the SMART Advocacy for Strategic Action (SASA) Alliance and a consortium of partners. It brought together ministers, parliamentarians, and global health leaders to address the persistent gaps in maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH).

In his closing remarks, Professor Adelegan declared that the world is not facing a knowledge gap, but rather a “delivery, quality, equity, and financing gap.” He framed the annual US$20-25 billion financing deficit for MNCH not as a mere statistic, but as a “gap between life and death” that translates into health facilities without essential equipment, stock-outs of life-saving commodities, and communities left without access to basic care.

“These are not just numbers,” Professor Adelegan stated. “They represent lives lost to postpartum haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and newborn sepsis. They represent new-borns dying from birth asphyxia and prematurity. Let us be clear: the majority of these deaths are preventable. And this is what makes the situation not only tragic but unacceptable.”

Professor Adelegan outlined a three-pronged strategy for transformative change, urging leaders to move beyond fragmented, unsustainable financing models:

1. Strengthened Domestic Resource Mobilization: He called on countries to move toward the Abuja target of allocating at least 15% of national budgets to health, prioritizing primary healthcare and MNCH services while reducing out-of-pocket expenditures.
2. Innovative and Catalytic Financing: He highlighted the potential of blended finance, health bonds, and other innovative instruments to mobilize large-scale private investment and expand fiscal space for health.
3. South-South and Triangular Cooperation: Professor Adelegan emphasized that South-South Cooperation is “no longer optional, it is essential.” He positioned PPD as a central player in enabling countries to share and scale cost-effective MNCH solutions, from community health worker programs to maternal death surveillance and response systems.

He concluded with a powerful call to action, urging the distinguished delegates to leave the room not with declarations, but with concrete commitments.

“The future of maternal, new-born, and child health will not be determined by what we say,” he affirmed. “It will be determined by what we do. Let us act boldly, urgently, technically, and collectively. Because the time for action is now.”

The event provided a critical platform for dialogue on country-led solutions and set a clear agenda for leveraging policy, advocacy, and financing to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals for maternal and child health.

:: Read the Closing Remarks

Professor Joseph Akinkugbe Adelegan with SASA Alliance team at the IMNHC 2026

Executive Director, Professor Joseph Akinkugbe Adelegan with Gates Foundation Staff, Mr. Patrick Mugirwa – Acting Regional Director – PPD African Regional Office,  and SASA Alliance team

The high-level meeting, held from February 25-26 at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre, convened under the theme, “Advancing Health Systems for emergency response, equity, resilience and sustainability in the context of attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Re-positioning the Role of Parliamentarians.” Professor Adelegan played a pivotal role in the proceedings, delivering the opening remarks, a keynote presentation, and the closing remarks for the influential gathering of African lawmakers.

In his keynote address on “Innovative & Catalytic Financing for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) to Achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC),” Professor Adelegan outlined a strategic financial roadmap to bridge the significant funding gaps in Africa’s health sector. He called for a move beyond traditional donor funding towards a more sustainable model that includes earmarked health taxes, social health insurance expansion, blended finance models, diaspora bonds, and impact investment instruments. He emphasized that these financial frameworks must be paired with catalytic investments in high-impact areas such as community health workers, local pharmaceutical manufacturing, and digital health platforms.

Throughout his speeches, Professor Adelegan consistently underscored the indispensable role of legislators in transforming health systems. He challenged the parliamentarians to move beyond being mere endorsers of policy to becoming the primary drivers of reform.

“Parliamentarians are not peripheral actors in the health ecosystem. They are central architects of national resilience,” Professor Adelegan stated in his opening remarks. “Through legislation, budget approvals, oversight, and constituency representation, parliaments shape the trajectory of health systems. Re-positioning parliamentarians means recognizing them not merely as policy approvers, but as champions of resilience, custodians of equity, and stewards of sustainability.”

The meeting culminated in the adoption of the Lusaka Call to Action, a landmark document that Professor Adelegan urged should be a measurable and actionable commitment rather than a symbolic gesture. In his closing remarks, he championed the inclusion of specific, numeric benchmarks within the Call to Action, including commitments to reduce out-of-pocket health expenditure below 20%, achieve annual maternal mortality reductions of at least 10%, and close 30% of the unmet need for contraception by 2030.

Professor Adelegan reaffirmed PPD’s unwavering commitment to supporting these efforts through its mandate to promote South-South and Triangular Cooperation. He highlighted that PPD stands ready to partner with NEAPACOH to share proven models for insurance reform, exchange financing innovations, and collaborate on strengthening the health workforce and local pharmaceutical production across the continent.

“May history record that in February 2026, African parliamentarians gathered in Lusaka not merely to discuss UHC but to legislate its future,” he concluded. “The future of Africa’s health systems depends not on what we have said here but on what we will enact tomorrow.”

Professor Adelegan’s influential participation in the 17th NEAPACOH Meeting has reinforced PPD’s position as a key partner in advancing health equity and sustainable development across the Global South, emphasizing that legislative action and financial innovation are the cornerstones of building a healthier future for all Africans.

PPD Executive Director with the Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia, Rt. Hon Dr Nelly B.K. Mutti 

PPD Executive Director with Dr Amina Aminu Dorayi, the Regional Portfolio Director, West and Central Africa, PATHFINDER

:: Remarks by PPD ED at the Opening 

:: Remarks by PPD ED at the Closing

:: Presentation by PPD ED on “Innovative & Catalytic Financing for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) to Achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC)”

Representing the BOAD President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, H.E. Serge Ekué, Vice President DAFFE welcomed the delegation. The discussions marked a pivotal moment for potential collaboration between PPD, an intergovernmental alliance of 28 member countries, and BOAD, the common financing institution for the member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

Professor Adelegan presented the organization’s mandate to institutionalize and expand South-South Cooperation, a mission that originated from the landmark 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. He highlighted PPD’s unique role in facilitating intergovernmental policy dialogue and technical cooperation among its member states, which collectively represent over 60% of the world’s population.

This courtesy visit is to explore potential areas of collaboration between the strategic priorities of Partners in Population and Development and the strategic pillars of the West African Development Bank. The meeting also served as an opportunity for Professor Adelegan to introduce the new leadership at PPD and to congratulate Vice President DAFFE on his appointment in April 2025. H.E. Mr. DAFFE brings a wealth of experience to his role, having previously served as the Minister of Economy and Finance for the Republic of Mali and holding extensive leadership positions in the banking sector across Africa.

Both leaders expressed a strong commitment to identifying concrete areas for partnership. Professor Adelegan shared policy briefs detailing PPD’s documented best practices with the potential for scaling up across the African continent. The discussions concluded with a mutual understanding to continue the dialogue and delineate specific collaborative projects that leverage the strengths of both institutions to achieve shared development goals.