As the delegation of my Global Policy and Philanthropy Office and the Wellbeing Foundation Africa opened our 81st United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week programme, it was a privilege for my office to join Every Pregnancy, the coalition on whose Advisory Board I am honoured to serve, at Goals House for ‘From Pipeline to Pregnancy’, convened together with Philips and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Women’s Health.

Moderated by Isra Chaker, Founder and CEO of Every Pregnancy, the conversation brought together Dr. Zaher Sahloul, President and CEO of MedGlobal; Mazen Mokhtar, CEO of Baitulmaal; Dr Matthew Rielly, Ventures Business Leader at Philips; and Dr Adanna Steinacker, Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Women’s Health, with remarks from Dr Rasa Izadnegahdar of the Gates Foundation, each speaking to how financing, frontline partners and innovation can meet a mother across the whole pathway of her care.

In 2023, an estimated 260,000 women lost their lives to complications of pregnancy and childbirth, the equivalent of one mother every two minutes, and seven in ten of those deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, despite the overwhelming majority being preventable with skilled and timely care. Every Pregnancy, the world’s first Zakat-approved Muslim collaborative for maternal and newborn health, is changing how communities of faith respond, channelling giving through trusted local partners to mobilise $91 million from more than 192,000 donors during Ramadan 2026 and nearly $130 million for mothers and newborns since 2024.

I encourage every partner in this room and beyond to keep aligning resources behind the midwives, health workers and local organisations who carry this work each day, a commitment the Wellbeing Foundation Africa shares through our own work alongside midwives and nurses across Nigeria, so that every mother is assured a safe pregnancy.

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