.png?sfvrsn=6d0e27cd_1 "Partnership for Change - v7 (1)")
A PMNCH High-Impact Dialogue Series Addressing the impacts of climate change on Maternal, Newborn and Child health and building climate-resilient societies
Background and Context
Reducing mortality and bolstering the health of women, children and adolescents remains one of the most critical challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3.1 (reduce the global maternal mortality ratio) and SDG 3.2 (end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five). Climate change is threatening decades of progress of improvements in maternal, newborn and child health, further widening the gap to reach the SDG targets. Pregnant and lactating women, newborns, children, and adolescents are particularly affected by climate change due to their unique stages and needs in the life course. Extreme weather events also disrupt access to sexual and reproductive health services and lead to increased gender-based violence and child marriage.
With the renewed global commitment enshrined in the 77th World Health Assembly resolution (WHA77) on accelerating progress on maternal, newborn, and child mortality, it is crucial to ensure policies, financing, and interventions address this intersection. In fact, the resolution acknowledges the barriers that climate-induced extreme weather events, air pollution, and lack of clean water and sanitation pose to access to safe, quality, and affordable sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent healthcare services at both health systems and societal levels, and calls on Member States to address these. As we approach the 2030 deadline, with only five years remaining to achieve these goals, the global community must act decisively to address the unique impacts of climate change on maternal, newborn, and child health.
This high-level dialogue is the fourth of a series of PMNCH dialogues. It will bring together policymakers, healthcare and climate leaders, donors, and experts to discuss how countries can devise strategies yielding co-benefits for climate and maternal, newborn, and child health.
This dialogue will specifically focus on how to address the unique impacts of climate change on maternal, newborn, and child health. The dialogue will present the latest evidence and existing gaps and highlight specific policies, interventions, and projects that are being implemented to ensure the climate mitigation for and adaptation of mothers, their babies, and children. The dialogue will also explore how to mobilize intersectoral action and financing to effectively address and leverage the co-benefits of safeguarding maternal, newborn, and child health in the climate crisis.
Objectives
- Share the latest evidence and existing gaps on the impacts of climate change on maternal, newborn and child health
- Identify and discuss effective policies, interventions and projects that can enhance climate mitigation and adaptation for maternal, newborn and child health, with a focus on country-level implementation.
- Explore intersectoral action and financing mechanisms which can be leveraged to increase alignment and investments to safeguard maternal, newborn and child health in the climate crisis.
- Provide actionable recommendations and a clear call to action to address maternal, newborn and child health in climate policies and financing, and integrate climate change in maternal, newborn and child health policies and financing to ensure mothers, babies, children and future generations are not left behind and accelerate progress toward achieving SDG 3.1 and 3.2.