Press Release
UNFPA Warns of Devastating Impact of Funding Cuts on Midwife Support in Crisis-Hit Countries
05 May 2025
NEW YORK, NY, 05 May, 2025 – Severe funding cuts are forcing UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, to dramatically scale back its support for midwives in crisis settings, jeopardizing the health and lives of pregnant women and newborns in some of the most fragile places on earth.
In eight crisis-hit countries alone, UNFPA will only be able to fund 47% of the 3,521 midwives it intended to support in 2025. These include:
Number of midwives UNFPA will be able to support out of the original target:
- Afghanistan: 565 out 974 midwives
- Bangladesh (Rohingya response): 241 out of 288 midwives
- Cameroon: 17 out of 49 midwives
- Central African Republic: Zero out of 22 midwives
- Mali: 88 out of 133 midwives
- Palestine: 63 out of 93 midwives
- Sudan: Zero out of 470 midwives
- Yemen: 700 out of 1492 midwives
UNFPA’s midwifery support is also being cut back in Chad, Nigeria, Madagascar and Somalia due to US funding cuts.
“Midwives save lives. They come to the rescue in the direst of circumstances. When crisis strikes and health systems are shattered, they are a lifeline for pregnant women who have lost access to vital maternity services,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA.
UNFPA’s support to midwives serving in humanitarian settings includes training, providing supplies and equipment; and in some cases a means of transport so they can operate mobile health clinics even in remote, dangerous areas. From delivering babies to supporting survivors of rape, midwives can deliver 90 percent of essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn health services. When these services are cut, the consequences are enormous. In Afghanistan alone, loss of support for 409 midwives will cut access to skilled care for an estimated half a million women.
Births do not stop in crises. But when crises cut pregnant women off from reproductive health care and emergency obstetric services, the risks skyrocket. Women are twice as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth in crisis settings.
To help address this crisis and to ensure the availability of adequate well trained midwives in all settings, UNFPA and partners recently launched the Global Midwifery Accelerator, a coordinated initiative to scale up midwife-led care in countries with the highest maternal mortality rates and greatest needs. The Accelerator sets out a cost-effective roadmap to save lives and strengthen national health systems, even in the most fragile contexts, and is already harnessing support from donors, but much more is needed.
“Cutting funding for humanitarian midwifery services puts women and their babies in harm’s way,” said Dr Natalia Kanem. “We cannot fail midwives; we need to find ways to support their essential work.”
About UNFPA:
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.
Media Contact:
New York, Anna Jefferys Jefferys@unfpa.org or media@unfpa.org
