A coalition of philanthropic organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has launched a nearly $500 million initiative to improve maternal and newborn survival in sub-Saharan Africa—offering a rare boost to global health efforts amid widespread international aid cutbacks.
Unveiled in Abu Dhabi, the Beginnings Fund is supported by the United Arab Emirates’ Mohamed Bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, among other major donors. The fund has been in development for over a year, but its mission has taken on new urgency as many countries, following the lead of the United States, have scaled back global aid contributions.
“This is the right time,” said Alice Kang’ethe, CEO of the Beginnings Fund, in an interview with Reuters. She emphasized the fund’s commitment to working in partnership with African governments, experts, and local organizations—avoiding the top-down, donor-driven models of the past.
The goal is ambitious: by 2030, the fund aims to save the lives of 300,000 mothers and newborns, and to improve access to quality care for 34 million others.
In addition to the pooled $500 million, partners have pledged a further $100 million in direct maternal and child health investments.
The initiative will begin operations in ten countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. It will focus on affordable, high-impact interventions in hospitals that carry the greatest burden of maternal and infant mortality. These include addressing preventable causes such as infections, postpartum hemorrhage, and newborn respiratory distress.
Tala Al Ramahi of the Mohamed Bin Zayed Foundation pointed to the UAE’s own history as a source of inspiration. “Two generations ago, women in the UAE were dying in childbirth, and many children didn’t survive. The transformation we experienced can help guide this effort,” she said.
While global health efforts had previously led to a 50% reduction in neonatal mortality between 1990 and 2022, progress has stagnated in recent years—and in some regions, it’s slipping backward. The World Health Organization has warned that further aid cuts could worsen the crisis.
“Mothers and newborns should not be dying from causes we already know how to prevent,” said Ethiopia’s Health Minister Dr. Mekdes Daba, calling the situation unacceptable and avoidable.
Alongside the Gates Foundation and the UAE, other supporters of the Beginnings Fund include the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Delta Philanthropies, and the ELMA Foundation.
