On yesterday’s 2025 International Day of Families, observed under the United Nations theme “Family-Oriented Policies for Sustainable Development: Towards the Second World Summit for Social Development,” I remain committed to the truth that the family is the most fundamental unit of society, and that the strength of our systems, our policies, and our collective future depends on how we protect and empower families at every level.

For the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, this principle has long underpinned our strategic investments in maternal, newborn, and child health. Since 2015, we have led a pioneering effort to embed professional development, service delivery reform, and health financing into a unified, family-centred framework. In partnership with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Johnson & Johnson Global Health, we implemented a five-year Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) training programme in Kwara State, which later expanded into Advanced Obstetric Surgical Skills (AOSS), training over 450 healthcare professionals, establishing five Skills Labs, and launching two Centres of Excellence.

Our Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s commitment to simulation-based education and multidisciplinary team training has not only improved clinical practice but also delivered measurable impact in Kwara State, with a 38% reduction in facility-based stillbirths, consistently improved maternal mortality ratios, and increased public confidence in care facilities. These outcomes have directly informed national policy evolution.

By aligning our evidence-based interventions with the National Health Insurance Scheme, Wellbeing Foundation Africa has helped catalyse a stronger enabling environment where maternal health services are more accessible, more equitable, and increasingly prioritised as a national development imperative. In 2024, the European Union, in partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and UNICEF, formally reinforced our cascade model for national scale-up, supporting the institutionalisation of EmONC and AOSS training into pre-service and postgraduate curricula for doctors, nurses, and midwives through the Strengthening Access to Reproductive and Adolescent Health (SARAH) programme.

At the community level, our midwifery-led MamaCare360 Antenatal and Postnatal Education Programme continues to complement these structural reforms by equipping expectant and new mothers with critical health literacy, empowering women to navigate care pathways, demand respectful treatment, and contribute to a cycle of positive health behaviours that strengthens entire households.

As the global community prepares for the Second World Summit for Social Development this November in Doha, we must reflect on the evidence: that when family-centred health systems are implemented with rigour, scale, and sustainability, they become a powerful lever for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The Wellbeing Foundation Africa stands ready to share our model, our lessons, and our impact with the world, and to work alongside governments, global partners, and civil society to deliver policies that uphold the dignity, safety, and prosperity of every family.