Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health and the Beginnings Fund have launched a five-year, US$90 million partnership to expand access to quality maternal and newborn care across eight regions, 46 districts and 210 health facilities.
Announced in Addis Ababa on October 13, the partnership will support Ethiopia’s existing plans to prevent approximately 86,000 maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths by 2031. The investment will focus on strengthening the health workforce, improving access to essential medicines and equipment, and upgrading infrastructure and emergency referral systems.
Of the US$90 million contribution, US$10 million was previously committed through Ethiopia’s Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Compact, a government-led mechanism supporting access to essential health commodities. The previously announced commitment is included in the partnership’s total funding, rather than additional to it.
Health Minister Dr Mekdes Daba Feyssa said the partnership would bring government investment, philanthropic funding and partner financing together behind national health priorities.
“By bringing together government investment, catalytic philanthropy and partner financing behind our national priorities, we can strengthen the health workforce, expand access to proven interventions and build stronger systems for quality care,” she said.
The partnership will support interventions intended to address gaps in maternal and newborn care, including the availability of skilled health workers, essential medicines and equipment. It will also strengthen health infrastructure, data systems and emergency referrals to help women and newborns receive timely care.
Alice Kang’ethe, Chief Executive Officer of the Beginnings Fund, said the investment would concentrate resources where they could make the greatest difference.
“Every woman should be able to give birth safely, and every newborn should have the best possible start in life,” she said.
“Working alongside the Federal Government and its partners, our ambition is to help ensure more women and newborns can access quality care, when they need it, while supporting lasting improvements in maternal and newborn health across Ethiopia.”
The fund’s contribution is designed to complement existing and planned investments in Ethiopia’s maternal and newborn health priorities. These include up to US$506 million in federal government commitments and more than US$220 million from other donors and partners.
Faustina Fynn-Nyame, Executive Director for Africa at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, said investment in frontline workers and essential supplies must be accompanied by efforts to address the wider causes of preventable deaths.
“Achieving lasting progress requires us to better understand and address the root causes of maternal and newborn deaths, including barriers to accessing quality care, health system gaps, poverty, malnutrition, and gender inequities,” she said.
Dr Shamma Khalifa Al Mazrouei, Director General of the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, an anchor donor to the fund, said the partnership builds on the foundation’s longstanding cooperation with Ethiopia. She highlighted investment in skilled workers and services that support safer childbirth and healthier newborns.
The Ethiopian agreement follows the Beginnings Fund’s recently announced partnership with Kenya. During its first phase, covering 2026–2031, the fund aims to support work in 10 African countries, with an ambition to prevent more than 300,000 deaths and improve access to quality care for 34 million women and newborns.
As of September 2026, it had raised US$495.4 million toward an initial fundraising target of US$525 million.
