Today's Edition
KENYA (ALETIHAD)
The Government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Health, and the Beginnings Fund have signed a Cooperative Agreement, formally launching a five-year partnership to expand access to quality maternal and newborn care across the country.
Launched in Abu Dhabi in April 2025, the Beginnings Fund is a philanthropic partnership working alongside African governments to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths.
Its first phase is focused on 10 countries, with the ambition of improving access to quality care for 34 million mothers and newborns and preventing more than 300,000 deaths.
Working in partnership with governments, the Fund invests in cost-effective, evidence-based interventions that save lives and strengthen health systems.
This partnership with the Government of Kenya will be delivered through the Beginnings Fund's unique approach of strengthening people, products, and systems by investing in the health workforce, essential medicines and technologies, referral networks, and health information systems in high-volume facilities to improve the quality of maternal and newborn care.
Despite significant progress in improving maternal and child health, preventable maternal and newborn deaths remain a public health challenge in Kenya.
Maternal mortality remains at an estimated 355 deaths per 100,000 live births, while neonatal mortality stands at 21 deaths per 1,000 live births and stillbirths at 19 per 1,000 births.
The majority of these deaths are preventable through timely, high-quality care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the first weeks of life.
Through the partnership, the Beginnings Fund will provide $80 million (Kenya Shillings 10.4 billion) in catalytic funding over five years to support the delivery of improved maternal and newborn health services across 21 priority counties and approximately 200 high-volume health facilities.
The programme is expected to reach approximately 5.9 million women and newborns and contribute to preventing an estimated 46,494 deaths by 2031.
The Beginnings Fund investment will complement investments by the national and county governments and partners, reinforcing the partnership's collaborative, government-led model.
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Hon. Aden Duale, said: “Frameworks or agreements do not save lives. Implementation does. I therefore urge the Beginnings Fund, implementing partners, and all responsible institutions to move with urgency
from signing to execution.
"Success will be measured by reductions in maternal deaths, reductions in newborn deaths, reductions in stillbirths, stronger health systems, and greater public confidence in our healthcare services.”
Alice Kang'ethe, Chief Executive Officer of the Beginnings Fund, said: "At the Beginnings Fund, we believe lasting progress is achieved when governments lead and partners work alongside them. Kenya has demonstrated that commitment by placing mothers and newborns at the centre of its health agenda and bringing together government, counties, health workers, implementing partners and philanthropy around a shared vision.
Our role is to provide catalytic support that strengthens the people, products and systems needed to deliver quality care, building on the leadership, expertise and commitment that already exists within Kenya's health system."
Kenya is among the first countries to formally launch a country partnership under the Beginnings Fund, joining Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Lesotho, and Nigeria in the Fund's country partnerships across Africa.
The Beginnings Fund is supported by a coalition of investors, including founding donors: the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, the Gates Foundation, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Delta Philanthropies, and The ELMA Foundation.
Her Excellency Dr. Shamma Khalifa Al Mazrouei, Acting Director General of the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, and one of the founding donors of the Beginnings Fund, said: "Every birth should be a moment of hope, yet every day mothers and newborns die from causes we know how to prevent. Kenya has set out a clear national vision to change that, and we are proud to support that leadership through the Beginnings Fund."
Dr. Paulin Basinga, Africa Director of the Gates Foundation, said: “This agreement reflects a shared commitment to tackling persistent and emerging challenges in maternal and newborn health, and shows what is possible when government leadership is matched with catalytic funding to ramp up delivery and impact.”
