Message from Rajat Khosla, PMNCH Executive Director – July 2025

Source: Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health | Original Published At: 2025-07-29 17:01:19 UTC

Key Points

• PMNCH launches 2026-2030 strategy focusing on partnerships and collective advocacy
• Global health progress stagnating with worsening inequalities and SRHR violations
• BRICS Summit launches partnership to tackle poverty-related diseases
• Strategy emphasizes Global South leadership and locally driven solutions
• Urgent action needed on social determinants affecting maternal and child health

Last week was an exciting time for PMNCH with the release of our new 2026-2030 strategy, the culmination of months of meaningful work to embrace “Business Unusual” and deliver the entire Partnership’s bold mission and vision to turn promises into progress. The status quo is simply not an option as real people are suffering the consequences of inaction, and lives are needlessly at risk.

The harsh reality is that global progress has flatlined and persistent health inequalities and human rights violations disproportionately affect the poorest & most vulnerable.​ A rise in authoritarian leadership and anti-rights movements are shrinking civic space, undermining multilateral systems, targeting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and leading to unprecedented cuts in global aid for health. Disinformation campaigns are undermining science, and armed conflicts, climate crisis & economic instability are radically transforming global and national landscapes, depleting healthcare systems and increasing risks for women, children and adolescents.​

In response, PMNCH’s 2026–2030 strategy outlines a bold, forward-looking blueprint rooted in the power of partnerships and collective advocacy. The strategy builds on PMNCH’s 20 years of experience, and through its streamlined governance model and sharpened priorities, deepens engagement with grassroots movements and promotes change at the highest political levels. It pivots towards supporting partners operating primarily in regions and countries, with a focus on the Global South, to leverage their growing role in shaping global health policy, investments, decision-making, and advancing locally driven solutions. Implementation is focused on: the fulfillment of unmet commitments and the unfinished women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being agenda; advancing adolescents’ health and well-being; and standing up for SRHR by accelerating progress, amplifying advocacy, and strengthening accountability.

The priorities outlined in the PMNCH strategy could not be more timely. Earlier this month at the BRICS Summit, member states took a significant step forward by launching a new Partnership to eliminate diseases driven by poverty and inequity, acknowledging the urgent need to address the broader social, economic, and environmental drivers of poor health. As this partnership takes shape, it is essential that the health and rights of women, children and adolescents remain central to its priorities. The social determinants that affect women, children and adolescent health outcomes—poverty, gender inequality, and limited access to services—must be addressed head-on if we are to deliver on the promise of health for all.

THANK YOU to the more than 300 partners who contributed to this strategy through surveys, consultations, discussions and valuable inputs. We couldn’t have done it without you! And to the PMNCH staff who supported this process every step of the way.