On the sidelines of the 34th International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby, yesterday held a productive high-level bilateral meeting with Dr. Diene Keita, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Lisbon, Portugal on 15 June 2026.
The meeting focused on strengthening collaboration to accelerate efforts to reduce maternal mortality and increase investments in midwifery as critical pillars of maternal and newborn healthcare in Sierra Leone and across Africa.
During the discussions, Dr. Keita commended Sierra Leone for achieving a historic 79 percent reduction in maternal mortality, with the rate declining from 1,682 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 354 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023. She praised the Government of Sierra Leone for its sustained commitment to targeted investments that have significantly improved maternal and child health outcomes.
Dr. Keita also recognized Sierra Leone as one of UNFPA’s six global Midwifery Accelerator Champion Countries, highlighting the country’s leadership in advancing maternal and reproductive healthcare.
In his opening remarks, Minister of Health Dr. Austin Demby emphasized that while Sierra Leone values the remarkable progress achieved in the health sector over the past two decades, the focus has now shifted from celebrating past achievements to leveraging data for informed decision-making and translating evidence into actions that save lives.
Minister Demby highlighted the country’s transformative healthcare agenda, which is driven by real-time monitoring through the Maternal and Child Health Situation Room and the Pregnancy Registration and Service Tracking (PReSTrack) platform.
He stressed that data should not merely be collected but effectively utilized to inform policy decisions, improve resource allocation, and strengthen accountability across all levels of the health governance system.
“Data must not merely be collected but must be used to make informed decisions and develop sound policies that improve resource allocation and ensure accountability at every level of the health governance architecture,” Dr. Demby stated.
The bilateral engagement reaffirmed the strong partnership between Sierra Leone and UNFPA and underscored their shared commitment to accelerating progress in maternal and newborn health. Both parties expressed optimism about expanding collaboration to further strengthen midwifery services, improve healthcare delivery, and contribute to achieving better health outcomes for women and children in Sierra Leone and across the African continent.