.png?sfvrsn=6d0e27cd_1 "Partnership for Change - v7 (1)")
The Seventy-Ninth World Health Assembly (WHA79), taking place in Geneva from 18–23 May 2026, comes at a critical moment for global health. With progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stalling, and in some contexts reversing, this year’s Assembly represents a pivotal opportunity for governments and partners to shift from commitments to concrete, high-impact action.
For women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (WCAH), the stakes could not be higher. Rising inequalities, shrinking development assistance, and the compounding effects of conflict, climate change, and health emergencies are undermining decades of progress. Without urgent course correction, millions of preventable deaths—particularly among mothers, newborns, and children, remain likely in the years leading up to 2030.
WHA79 offers a crucial platform to re-centre WCAH within the global health agenda. Across multiple agenda items, spanning primary healthcare, noncommunicable diseases, mental health, communicable diseases and immunization, nutrition, pandemic preparedness, and health system reform—there are clear entry points to advance integrated, rights-based approaches to health across the life course. These discussions underscore that WCAH is not a standalone issue, but a cross-cutting priority essential to achieving universal health coverage (UHC), strengthening health systems, and delivering on the SDGs.
For the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) and its partners, WHA79 is therefore a strategic moment to advocate for:
- Integrated service delivery, ensuring sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (SRMNCAH) is embedded across all health priorities;
- Equitable financing and primary healthcare strengthening, to remove barriers and expand access to essential services;
- Protection of WCAH in emergencies and fragile settings, including within pandemic preparedness frameworks; and
- Rights-based, gender-responsive approaches, ensuring that the health and wellbeing of women, children and adolescents are explicitly recognized and protected in global health policies and reforms.
Lives in the Balance
Health Sovereignty, Financing Reform and Protecting What Matters Most: Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health
Co-hosts: Government of Somalia, PMNCH, GLN, EWENE, CSA, PATH, UNFPA, UNICEF, Save the Children, World Vision International, Seed Global Health, MSI
17 May 2026 18:00 – 19:30 CET, Musée international de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge
Accelerating Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being in a Changing World
Co-hosts: PMNCH, WHO-HRP, Fondation Botnar, World Vision International, UNICEF, SheDecides, MSI
19 May 2026 11:30 – 14:30 CET, Musée International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge & online
Partner events around women's, children's and adolescents' health and well-being
Launch of the UHC2030 narrative on digital transformation of health systems for universal health coverage
UHC2030, CSEM, Transform Health, OECD, DTH-Lab and GIDH
Monday 18 May 2026 · 16:30-18:00 · CSEM Space, Auditorium de la Pastorale, 106 Route de Ferney, Genève
How can simulation training ensure midwives are crisis-ready?
UNFPA, Laerdal Global Health, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)
Monday 18 May 2026 · 18:00-20:00 CET · Evening Reception · ICRC Humanitarium, Geneva
Continuity, Respect, Equity: Midwifery Models of Care for People-Centred Health Systems to Achieve Universal Health Coverage
International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nepal, Zambia
Monday 18 May 2026 · 13:00 · Garden Room T, WHO Headquarters
From Resolution to Results: A Replicable Model for Drowning Prevention Implementation
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Thailand, Norway
Monday 18 May 2026 · 13:00 · Salle B, WHO Headquarters
Multisectoral Action to Achieve the Global Nutrition Targets
World Vision International, Action contre la Faim, Ireland, Scaling Up, Save the Children, El Salvador, Senegal, Madagascar, Bangladesh
Monday 18 May 2026 · 18:00 · Salle C, WHO Headquarters
Shaping Future Health Systems for Equity and Access in Digital Era: From Vision to Practice
China, Ethiopia, Oman, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand
Monday 18 May 2026 · 18:00 · Room XVI, Palais des Nations
Partnership in Action for UHC: Sustaining the Momentum for Country-Led and Self-Reliant Health Financing Amid Fiscal Constraints
Japan, UN Foundation, Ghana, Nigeria, Thailand
Monday 18 May 2026 · 18:00 · Room XI, Palais des Nations
Women in Global Health Leadership, Equity & Multilateral Action
GWL Voices, Women in Global Health, UNU-IIGH, Bayer, PMNCH, Spain, Slovenia TBC
Monday 18 May 2026 · 18:00 · Garden Room T, WHO Headquarters
The Midwifery Accelerator: Optimising the Health Workforce for Maternal and Newborn Survival
The Government of Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi, Nepal, Uganda and Sweden, and Midwifery Accelerator partners including UNFPA, UNICEF, ICM and Jhpiego
Tuesday 19 May 2026 · 07:45-09:30 CET · Ministerial Breakfast · Vieux Bois Restaurant, 12 Avenue de la Paix, Geneva
Cervical Cancer Elimination: Strengthening Health Systems and Accountability Toward the 2030 Targets
South Africa, Nepal, Belgium, Ghana
Tuesday 19 May 2026 · 13:00 · Salle XI, Palais des Nations
Zero-Dose Children - Zero Excuses! Immunising the Most Vulnerable in an Era of Turbulence
Sudan, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, Save the Children
Tuesday 19 May 2026 · 07:45-10:00 · Breakfast event · Warwick Hotel, Rue de Lausanne 14 · In person only, registration required
Official WHA79 side event: Domestic Leadership in Health Financing: A Dialogue with the WHO DG (CSO Dialogue 3)
South Africa, Medicus Mundi International, World Vision International, Save the Children
Tuesday 19 May 2026 · 13:00-14:20 · Lunch event · WHO HQ, Bâtiment A, 3rd floor, Salle B · In-person (WHA badge required or special badge request for CSOs by 13 May) and virtual
Investing in Safer Births: Scaling what works
Global Financing Facility (GFF) and Laerdal Global Health
Tuesday 19 May 2026 · Event begins at 18:00, reception at 19:00 · The Humanitarium, ICRC, Av. de la Paix 17, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Leading with Evidence: Government Action and New Global Data on Preventing Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Childlight Global Child Safety Institute, Child Protection Network, Philippines, Iceland, Costa Rica, International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect (ISPCAN)
Tuesday 19 May 2026 · 18:00 · Garden Room T, WHO Headquarters
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: Preserving Essential Services Amid Funding Pressures
Guyana, Malawi, Barbados, Germany
Wednesday 20 May 2026 · 13:00 · Salle XI, Palais des Nations
Gestational Diabetes and Beyond: Strengthening Primary Care for Integrated Reno-Metabolic Health Across the Life Course
Kenya, Guatemala, Tanzania, UNFPA, International Diabetes Federation, International Society of Nephrology (ISN), World Obesity Federation (WOF), World Diabetes Foundation (WDF), Novo Nordisk Foundation, Maternity Foundation
Wednesday 20 May 2026 · 18:00 · Room VIII, Palais des Nations
A Digital Health Investment Taxonomy: A common framework for tracking investments
Digital Health Investment Taxonomy
Wednesday 20 May 2026 · 08:00-09:30, breakfast from 07:30 · InterContinental Hotel, 7 Chem. du Petit-Saconnex 9, 1209 Genève
Enabling Digital Health Systems for Health Equity: A Youth Call to Action
Youth Call to Action on Digital Health Equity
Wednesday 20 May 2026 · 17:00-19:30 CET · Giga Connectivity Centre, Campus Biotech, Chem. des Mines 9, 1202 Genève
Accelerating Reduction of Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality: Progress to Date and Action for 2030
Devex in partnership with MSD for Mothers, Child Survival Action (CSA), EWENE (Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere), UNFPA and UNICEF
Wednesday 20 May 2026 · 09:30-11:30 CET · Morning Event
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: Preserving Essential Services Amid Funding Pressures
Guyana, Malawi, Barbados, Germany
Wednesday 20 May 2026 · 13:00 CET · Salle XI, Palais des Nations
Power in Partnership: Unlocking Sustainable Financing for Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health Commodities
The Government of Ghana, Honduras, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia, and UNFPA, FP2030 and Unitaid
Wednesday 20 May 2026 · 18:30-20:30 CET · Ministerial Reception Event · Vieux Bois Restaurant, 12 Avenue de la Paix, Geneva
Delivering Maternal and Newborn Services for Hard-to-Reach Communities, in Low Resource, Complex Settings: Lessons from South Sudan and Kenya
South Sudan and Kenya, UNFPA, Doctors with Africa
Thursday 21 May 2026 · 13:00 · Salle C, WHO Headquarters
Large-Scale Food Fortification and Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation: Progress and Promise to Address Malnutrition
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, UNICEF, World Food Programme, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya
Thursday 21 May 2026 · 13:00 · Room XVI, Palais des Nations
Protecting 26 Million Women and 20 Million Children from Sepsis: A Global Health Imperative
Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA), Women in Global Health (WGH), World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists (WFSA), International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), Georgia, Egypt
Thursday 21 May 2026 · 18:00 · Salle XI, Palais des Nations
Contaminated Commercial Formula: The Need for a Global Response to Protect Child Health
IBFAN, ILCA, Panama, Burundi, Ecuador, Van Tulleken Foundation, Latin American and Caribbean Nutrition and Health Community of Practice
Friday 22 May 2026 · 13:00 · Garden Room T, WHO Headquarters