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Former First Lady of Namibia, lawyer, entrepreneur and global advocate Monica Geingos to lead the world’s largest alliance for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being at a pivotal moment for sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and health financing.
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The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) today announced the appointment of H.E. Monica Geingos as its new Board Chair to succeed Rt Hon Helen Clark who completes her tenure in November 2026, ushering in a new chapter of leadership for PMNCH the world’s largest alliance for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being. Announcing the appointment of Ms Geingos, Rt Hon Helen Clark said, “Monica is exceptionally well placed to lead the partnership at this moment, bringing together principled leadership with practical experience and a clear understanding that progress for women, children and adolescents depends on political courage, inclusive partnerships and sustained investment.”
Hosted by the World Health Organization and based in Geneva, PMNCH brings together nearly 1,500 partner organizations across six constituencies to mobilize, align and amplify advocacy for the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents worldwide. At a time of growing pressure on health financing, widening inequality and increasing contestation of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), “the appointment signals PMNCH’s determination to keep women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, and SRHR, at the center of global health, development and accountability”, said Helen Clark.
Ms. Geingos brings to the role a distinguished record of leadership across law, finance, youth empowerment, gender equality and public health. A trained lawyer and former First Lady of Namibia, she is the Executive Chairperson of the One Economy Foundation and helped co-create the #BeFree youth development model, designed to respond to young people’s social, economic and sexual and reproductive health needs, including access to information, services and agency over their own bodies and futures. She currently serves as a UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and recently co-chaired the Global Commission on Inequality and AIDS alongside Joseph Stiglitz and Michael Marmot, further underscoring her global leadership on equity, health, and social justice.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, paid tribute to Rt Hon Helen Clark’s leadership of PMNCH, noting her “steadfast commitment to advancing the health and rights of women, children and adolescents and to strengthening global partnership and accountability.” He added that Monica Geingos brings a “rare combination of strategic leadership, public credibility and deep commitment to equity,” and that at a time of significant change in global health, her leadership will be a powerful force for progress for women, children and adolescents.
For Diene Keita, Executive Director of UNFPA, the transition also marks an important moment of continuity and renewal. She expressed appreciation for Helen Clark, noting "We at UNFPA extend our deepest gratitude to Helen Clark, whose extraordinary stewardship and unwavering dedication have been a defining force in advancing the health, rights, and dignity of women and young people worldwide.” She also shared a commitment to continue to collaborate, noting that UNFPA “looks forward to continuing to partner closely with PMNCH under Monica Geingos – a powerful advocate whose voice and leadership will be instrumental to global efforts to protect and expand access to sexual and reproductive health and rights."
Ms. Geingos’ appointment comes at a consequential moment for global health. Across many countries, women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health is under strain from fiscal constraints, uneven recovery trajectories and widening inequities. At the same time, SRHR is increasingly under threat, with declining funding, policy reversals and reduced access to essential services such as family planning, safe motherhood care and adolescent-responsive health services. In this context, PMNCH’s mission to advance bodily autonomy, gender-responsive health systems and equitable access to comprehensive SRHR services has never been more urgent.
Leaders from major PMNCH constituencies also welcomed the appointment. Jagat Prakash Nadda, India’s Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, said “I warmly welcome Ms. Geingos as the new PMNCH Board Chair. I am sure that with her leadership PMNCH will strengthen global partnerships to advance positive Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent health outcomes, translating commitments into meaningful impact &accelerating progress towards SDG 2030 goals.”
From South Africa, Dr Pakishe Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Health, emphasized the significance of the appointment for the continent and beyond. He said “Africa needs strong and credible voices to champion investment in health, dignity and human potential, and that Ms. Geingos has demonstrated precisely that kind of leadership throughout her public life. Her appointment”, he said, “sends a strong signal that women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, including their sexual and reproductive health, must remain central to both continental and global health priorities”.
Accepting the appointment, Monica Geingos said she was “deeply honoured to take on this role, and particularly to build on the exceptional leadership of Helen Clark, whose commitment has helped shape PMNCH into a powerful global platform for advocacy and accountability.” She added that “at a time of profound global transition, the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents, including their sexual and reproductive health and rights, must be treated not as peripheral concerns, but as defining measures of whether societies are just, resilient and future-ready.” She stressed that “the international community must protect hard-won gains, confront growing inequities and ensure that every woman and young person has access to the information, services and rights they need to make informed choices about their lives and health.”
During her years in public life, Ms. Geingos has built a strong reputation for linking social justice to economic inclusion. Before assuming the role of First Lady in 2015, she spent 15 years in the financial sector, including as a private equity and governance expert. Her leadership has since been recognized through appointments and roles spanning United Nations SDG advocacy, youth empowerment initiatives, and global efforts focused on inequality, AIDS and pandemics.
This combination of economic, political and social leadership is expected to strengthen PMNCH’s ability to advocate for more integrated, better financed and more accountable action for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, including sustained investment in SRHR services, gender equality and adolescent health as central pillars of development.
As Board Chair, Ms. Geingos will help guide PMNCH’s strategic leadership, partner engagement and advocacy at a time when countries and institutions are rethinking how health is financed, governed and delivered. Her appointment reinforces PMNCH’s commitment to ensuring that women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health — including full access to sexual and reproductive health and rights — remains central to global health and development efforts.