FROM September 23rd, 2019
As Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and Special Adviser to the Independent Advisory Group to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, I commend today our partners, philanthropies, NGOs, faith-based organizations, financial institutions, corporations, and universities as we join together at this historic convening to announce new and wide-ranging commitments to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions in healthcare facilities.
Amongst the many commitments made today, the Wellbeing Foundation has outlined its programmatic and advocacy promises to the world:
To disseminate information and advocacy regarding WASH standards through its influential MamaCare midwives and our partnership with Unilever Lifebuoy
To teach about WASH in healthcare facilities and schools
To continue its #WASHWednesday advocacy campaign
To develop our WASH for Healthcare Facilities Proper Cleaning programme.
Having successfully introduced and intensified our WASH for Wellbeing hygiene in health care facilities techniques to health workers and patients in over 570 medical facilities in 5 states of Nigeria, our challenge remains taking those standards to a national scale in Nigeria’s 36 states of the federation – to that end I was encouraged by the speech in November last year given by His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari declaring a state of emergency in water, sanitation and hygiene in Nigeria and launching the National Plan of Action.
We know that this is a global challenge. 45% of healthcare facilities in ‘Least Developed Countries’ lack basic water services, and 1.5 billion people around the world have to use healthcare facilities without basic sanitation. The impact on infant and maternal mortality, pandemic and infection prevention and control, and antibiotic resistance, is devastating and well-documented.
The commitments made today, however, are truly unprecedented and reflect the impact of advocacy at local, regional and global levels.
In response to the UN Secretary General António Guterres’ Call to Action on World Water Day in March 2018, I retraced the steps of each of the programmes undertaken by the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and launched a new WASH campaign with the World Health Organization in Nigeria.
I committed to work with my partners in the global health and development communities to stop mothers and newborns from dying from preventable and unnecessary complications, simply because the most basic of WASH services are not available, and to ensure that all countries implement the 2017 World Health Assembly Sepsis Resolution. Hand hygiene must be a quality indicator in every facility and a national marker of health care quality, with access to soap and water monitored and assessed.
To that end I conducted high-level meetings at the US State Department, with the World Bank, and with Congress to accelerate progress on WASH – and in many cases reverse worsening trends and indicators.
At the World Health Assembly last month in Geneva, I spoke in favour of the historic WASH resolution, and was delighted when, for the first time, the 194 WHO Member States joined together to acknowledge this global health crisis and move toward concrete action.
That resolution, combined with the unprecedented commitments made today, represent a leap forward in improving WASH conditions in Nigeria and around the world and have the potential to save millions of lives. Thank you to the frontline healthcare workers who will make that possible, and all of those here today for your vision and endeavour.
FROM July 11th, 2019
Thank you to the Dutch Government, Bernard van Leer Foundation, the International Confederation of Midwives, and the Dutch Taskforce for Healthcare for hosting us and facilitating this 23rd Board Meeting.
I know that as we sit here in the Hague, all of our discussions are focused upon our shared value and commitment to ensuring that women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (WCAH) is at the top of national, regional and global agendas. I think it is right, therefore, that the Board Meeting seeks to evaluate and enhance its political engagement at all levels.
At the World Health Assembly this year, alongside Helga Fogstad, PMNCH Executive Director, Dr Tedros Adanhom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, and Her Excellency Mrs Emine Erdogan, First Lady of The Republic of Turkey. I commended PMNCH’s Call to Action on Aligning Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and Wellbeing in Humanitarian and Fragile Settings.
Given that more than two billion people live under the threat of conflict and emergencies of diverse and complex natures, and that 69 million people have been displaced by humanitarian crises, we need bold steps to enhance coordination and bring together synchronized knowledge, policies and actions for a whole-system approach to achieving health for all, routinely across nations, in order to build the resilience for effective responses in protracted emergencies and in the humanitarian-development nexus. That is why I so strongly support PMNCH’s initiative and call to action, which is best placed to bring us all together – from every sector, region, country and background – to remove the inefficiencies, identify and address gaps of capacity and delivery in every sense.
PMNCH is uniquely positioned to mobilise broader political strategies, and partnerships of all kinds, as it can act as the standard-bearer and interlocutor between the WHO, global institutions, CSOs, governments, the private sector and frontline healthcare workers. This support is invaluable to Governments and healthcare providers, who we can consider to be the duty-bearers.
At the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, of which I am the Founder-President, we have learned the value which emanates from engagement with PMNCH in Nigeria, as members who supported the ‘Saving One Million Lives’ campaign, the promotion of routine administration of the reinforced ORS-Zinc formula for management of diarrhoea, and the Midwives Service Scheme, a public sector collaborative initiative, designed to mobilize midwives, including newly qualified, unemployed and retired midwives, for deployment to selected primary health care facilities in rural communities.
I must report from Nigeria that whilst there has been an improved focus on surveillance – and a growing acceptance of the fact that suitable civil registration and vital statistics systems will be essential if we are to achieve universal health coverage – I hope that these milestones in accountability also able to catalyse improved services at the frontline. That can only be achieved with expanded investment in primary health.
I strongly support the PMNCH position that we must put women, children and adolescents at the heart of universal health coverage. The relationship between achieving health for all and WCAH must be at the core of our advocacy as the former is simply unachievable without significant improvements to the latter.
It is of course no coincidence that women, children and adolescents – despite accounting for 60% of the global population – tend to constitute the groups with the least political influence and power, which is why United Nations, WHO and national policies must explicitly highlight and focus on WCAH as part of their UHC strategies.
Only then can we claim to be truly working towards the principle of “leaving no one behind,” which is central to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030).
On a final note, as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives, one of our co-hosts this week, I must highlight the launch at the World Health Assembly this year, of the report ‘Strengthening quality midwifery education for Universal Health Coverage 2030: A transformative approach to improving quality of care’ produced by ICM, alongside WHO, UNFPA and UNICEF. Women and newborns are the most vulnerable in humanitarian and fragile settings where quality midwifery education saves lives by preparing all midwives to legislate for and respond to emergency health situations. As a critical element in achieving UHC and WCAH, I am sure that we all know that midwives can and do lead the way.
As Nigeria’s first and oldest country member of this esteemed and dedicated alliance, I am honoured by the Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s PMNCH Board Observer Privileges, and delighted to extend a warm welcome to Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, as Chair of PMNCH – who I know will ensure that women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and wellbeing are reinforced as a global priority. Thank you.
FROM May 21st, 2019
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), AB Building, Salle A, 34, Chemin des Colombettes, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Tuesday, 21 May 2019, 13:00-14:30
Thank you to PMNCH for your timely and powerful call to action. As a Nigerian who has long worked with frontline healthcare workers to empower women, their infants and their communities to stay healthy, safe and to thrive, I know that if we are to achieve universal health coverage, and truly leave no-one behind, we must better align our investments and efforts taking a life-course approach to safeguard women, children and adolescents in humanitarian and fragile settings and uphold their human right to the highest attainable standard of health.
Given that more than two billion people live under the threat of conflict and emergencies of diverse and complex natures, and that 69 million people have been displaced by humanitarian crises, we need bold steps to enhance coordination and bring together synchronized knowledge, policies and actions for a whole-system approach to achieving health for all, especially in protracted emergencies and in the humanitarian-development nexus. That is why I so strongly support this initiative and call to action from PMNCH, which is best placed to bring us all together – from every sector, region, country and background – to remove the inefficiencies, identify and address gaps of capacity and delivery in every sense.
As the Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives I welcome the launch yesterday of the report ‘Strengthening quality midwifery education for Universal Health Coverage 2030: A transformative approach to improving quality of care.’ produced by ICM, alongside WHO, UNFPA and UNICEF. Women and newborns are the most vulnerable in humanitarian and fragile settings where quality midwifery education saves lives by preparing all midwives to prepare for and respond to emergency health situations.
It lends significant weight to PMNCH’s initiative, as we seek to provide comprehensive training and support necessary for midwives to provide the full scope of services in situations which are often dangerous and highly prone to change.
In a year when we have lost midwives, nurses and doctors on the frontline of healthcare, we all know how critical this initiative is.
PMNCH is best placed to mobilise partnerships of all kinds, and can act as the standard-bearer and interlocutor between the WHO, global institutions, CSOs, governments, the private sector and frontline healthcare workers. This support is invaluable to Governments and healthcare providers as the duty-bearers. At the Wellbeing Foundation Africa we have learned the value which emanates from engagement with PMNCH in Nigeria, as members who supported the ‘Saving One Million Lives’ campaign, the promotion of and ORS formula and zinc for management of diarrhoea, and the Midwives Service Scheme, a public sector collaborative initiative, designed to mobilize midwives, including newly qualified, unemployed and retired midwives, for deployment to selected primary health care facilities in rural communities.
We know that the road to universal health coverage does not rest upon one single static action, but on the spectrum of interventions and initiatives; from water, sanitation and hygiene standards in healthcare facilities to breastfeeding education and training for healthcare workers. In a country as large as Nigeria, resilience throughout the whole nation’s system is necessary if we are going to be able to tackle critical health emergencies in fragile settings, for example in the north-east. That is why a strengthened primary health care system is imperative as the foundation and bedrock of achieving health for all and should be a focal point for investment.
I call on all partners and stakeholders to rally behind PMNCH, to support this initiative and most importantly commit to action which will make health for all a reality. Together we can make sure that no-one is left behind. Thank you.
FROM February 28th, 2019
Fellow speakers:
Speaking Notes:
FROM October 17th, 2018
Good afternoon, I am delighted to join you here today. I have been asked to convey the apologies of Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki, the Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, who is unfortunately unable to be with us. It is my privilege to represent Mrs Saraki here today: my name is Jack Tunmore and I lead Global Communications and Policy for the Wellbeing Foundation, also known as the WBFA.
I will give a very brief overview of the work of the WBFA and then offer more insight into the two of our programmes which I think are the most relevant for our discussion here today. This session focuses on building partnerships with NGOs, communities, and academia. We bring the perspective of an NGO which works with global partners, academic institutions and Governments, both local and national.
The Wellbeing Foundation Africa was founded in 2004 by Her Excellency Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki, with the primary aim of improving health outcomes for women, infants and children. We combine our programmes with advocacy work in Nigeria and around the world: in fact our frontline health programmes inform that global advocacy.
We have offices in Lagos, Abuja and Ilorin – and a global office in London, which is where I am based. I am fortunate to regularly spend time with our teams in Nigeria, including taking global partners on assessment visits, and when in London I am equally fortunate to be kept closely, and frankly, informed of frontline activities by the WBFA midwives, known as MamaCare midwives, via WhatsApp and Skype.
Over 200,000 women have taken part in our flagship ‘MamaCare’ classes in Nigeria; antenatal and postnatal classes delivered by our qualified midwives. Despite dire national maternal mortality rates, we have not yet lost a single MamaCare mother. Our WBFA midwives transform the lives of mothers, their children and communities. No topic is off-limits in their classes – trust me, I know – and their results speak for themselves. Our online #MaternalMonday campaign was conceived as a platform for mothers and our WBFA midwives to share their knowledge, experiences & best practice. The aim of that sharing exercise is to raise awareness for the improvement of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child & adolescent health. We harness the power of story-telling on social media each Monday to share accurate information on maternal health
Now I will turn to the two programmes which I think are most relevant to our discussion here today.
The first is the Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) programme which is run in partnership with the Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health (CMNH) at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the oldest and most established school of tropical medicine in the world, and Johnson & Johnson, one of the largest global health companies. The model therefore brings together an esteemed higher-education institution, the private sector and a civil society organisation – which is of course us.
Our EmONC training takes place in-house and equips doctors, nurses and midwives, as a collective team, with the skills needed to overcome obstetric emergencies.
Funding from the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust allows for a three-pronged model from LSTM and the WBFA: (a) direct, skills-and-drills based method of teaching Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care, including newborn resuscitation; (b) Data Management training; and (c) Quality Improvement (QI) training. WBFA’s model is based on community mobilisation, advocacy, and strategic policy advisory.
The partnership began in February 2015, with the two first phases being active in 7 of the 16 Local Government areas in Kwara State. In February I joined representatives from Johnson & Johnson and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to carry out a ground assessment of the training. The demonstrations witnessed by the team in Kwara were wide-ranging and innovative – we were particularly impressed with the simple inexpensive use of a condom catheter balloon filled with saline to control postpartum haemorrhage, the excessive bleeding after birth which is the leading cause of maternal mortality. As we know, 80% of all maternal deaths result from five complications which can be readily treated by qualified and trained health professionals: haemorrhage, sepsis, eclampsia, complications of abortion and obstructed labour.
So far, the EmONC training programme has resulted in a 15% reduction in maternal case fatality rate and a 38% reduction in the still birth rate in health care facilities where the project is implemented.
Since that visit, we can as partners proudly report that we have moved to the next stage of the programme, as from August 2018 to August 2020 our EmONC training is set to expand across the whole of Kwara State.
Between 2018-2020, EmONC training will be delivered to an additional 27 healthcare facilities in the remaining 9 LGAs. Over 600 healthcare providers will be directly trained and over the 30-month project, an estimated 62,900 women and their newborns will benefit from the interventions implemented.
We have taken a quite different approach to our partnerships which seek to improve water, sanitation and hygiene – or ‘WASH’ conditions in healthcare facilities, schools, and communities in Nigeria.
Poor WASH facilities in schools lowers attendance and educational achievement, with a particular effect on girls. According to UNESCO, one in ten girls in Sub-Saharan Africa do not attend school during their menstrual cycle, and can miss as much as twenty percent of a given school year. Meanwhile, poor WASH conditions in healthcare facilities lead to high rates of maternal and infant mortality. The WHO found that in Nigeria 29% of HCFs do not have access to safe water and toilets and 16% of HCFs do not have handwashing facilities with soap.
In May our Founder-President Mrs Saraki launched a global WASH campaign in Abuja at a meeting with Dr. Wondi Alemu, WHO Representative and Head of Mission in Nigeria, working with partners including Global Water 2020, an initiative based in Washington D.C. which is designed to accelerate progress toward water access and security for all people in developing countries. A key element of that partnership is advocacy for improved WASH standards, both in Nigeria and around the world.
In June we carried out a fact-finding and advocacy mission to Washington D.C. to take part in multilateral meetings with the US State Department, the World Bank, and members of the United States Congress. In August, as the United Nations marked International Youth Day, the WBFA took its pioneering PSHE and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) education programme to schoolchildren in Ogun State, Nigeria.
The WBFA’s programme is based on its Adolescent Skills and Drills, Personal Social and Health Education Curriculum, the first locally-developed PSHE curriculum, which is formed of three core pillars – Your Rights and Your Body, Health Relationships, and Planning Your Future. Within those main areas an extensive range of topics pertinent to the health and wellbeing of young people are covered, with a focus on WASH.
The cohort of children, aged between 8 and 17 years old, were taught the WHO standard of hand washing techniques in addition to further break-out sessions, in line with the commitment of the WBFA to support the attainment of UN Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. This pilot, which took place over two days, educated 237 children at the Ogun State Summer Camp, before an anticipated roll-out across the state and throughout Nigeria.
Last month we partnered with Unilever Lifebuoy Nigeria and Sightsavers to improve hygiene practices to impact more than 2 million children over the following 12 months.
The partnership will work on programmes which promote hygiene messages and prevent disease, advancing critical hygiene interventions such as handwashing with soap, addressing the issue of child illnesses and mortality due to preventable diseases.
Thank you for your attention and I look forward to hearing how we can be a great frontline health partner for you all.
FROM September 25th, 2018
Good evening. I am delighted to join so many friends here to celebrate midwives and the work of ICM.
Indeed, we often meet at times of celebration. Last time I joined you at a public event, at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, the atmosphere was joyful as we celebrated midwives leading the way for quality care around the world. I know that we will share some of that spirit tonight.
Events last week, however, will be weighing heavily on all of our minds, and prompting difficult questions about the safety of midwives and our role as champions and advocates for midwives.
In March, a 25-year-old midwife named Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa was kidnapped by militants alongside two other International Committee of the Red Cross aid workers. Saifura, a young mother herself, had moved to Rann in north-eastern Nigeria to selflessly help those in need.
Saifura’s murder last week is a tragedy for Nigeria and for the global community of midwives. As a mother, as a Nigerian, and as a champion for midwives, I am devastated that we have lost one of our own. We pray and work for the release and rescue of Hauwa Mohammed Liman and Alice Loksha as we come to terms with this stark reminder of the threat to life and liberty faced by midwives, nurses and health-care workers who selflessly work for the health and wellbeing of others.
Saifura had specifically been working in a facility for Internally Displaced Persons – where women are of course particularly vulnerable. Two days after the terrible news broke, our MamaCare midwife Rita was herself conducting an antenatal class in an IDP camp, albeit in an area with a quite different security situation. There can be no greater reminder of the need to support ICM’s advocacy and aims than the news last week and the work carried out by midwives like Saifura and Rita, with no fanfare, day after day, in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable.
I have just come from the ICM stakeholders meeting, where we discussed ICM’s three-year strategy and had a very honest discussion about all of our strengths and weaknesses. There is no truer friend than a critical friend. One point that I must however bring to this forum which I made in that meeting is that ICM punches far above its weight. ICM’s reach is of course huge, representing over 500,000 midwives from 132 Member Associations in 113 countries across 6 regions of the world. Many of you here this evening would probably be surprised at the number of staff given their remarkable output. I congratulate ICM, in particular Franka and Sally of course, on their outstanding work not only in forging the way ahead for ICM but for leading the way in advocacy and vision.
I have now been ICM’s Global Goodwill Ambassador for quite some time – four and a half years and counting, in fact. I am fortunate in this role to have my work informed by the Wellbeing Foundation Africa MamaCare midwives, by the team at ICM, and by friends – many of them here – who share our vision and commitment. Like all of you, however, I strive to find new and effective ways to champion the cause of midwives, both as a public advocate and in private. Making the right case to the right people, at any level, is something I know we can share our wisdom on – please never refrain from letting me know how I can be a better champion.
Thank you to everyone here today for being friends to ICM and champions for midwives. Above all, thank you to ICM for all that you do.