Agrégateur de flux

La Croatie a franchi une nouvelle étape dans la modernisation de ses forces armées en signant l'achat de 18 obusiers automoteurs Caesar MK2 et de 44 chars Leopard. Un choix stratégique qui renforce sa coopération militaire avec la France et l'Allemagne.

- Le fil de l'Info / Courrier des Balkans, Croatie, Défense, police et justice

Health workers attend to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers at an outreach visit supported by UNFPA in Loima sub-county. Credit: UNFPA/Luis Tato

By James Nyikal, Margaret Lubaale and Anne-Beatrice Kihara
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 12 2025 (IPS)

For women in labour across Kenya, reaching a health facility, finding skilled health workers, and affording care can be a matter of life and death. These challenges are not rare, but daily realities for many families.

Every year on 12 December, the world observes Universal Health Coverage Day, a chance to renew the promise of health for all. But for this promise to be meaningful, it must reach every woman and child, everywhere in Kenya.

Slow Progress in Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health

While Kenya has made gradual gains in maternal, newborn and child health with improved vaccination and increased antenatal care, progress in maternal survival has been painfully slow.

Between 2014 and 2019, the maternal mortality rate dropped by less than two percent, even as investment increased. United Nations data shows that Kenya’s maternal mortality ratio remains one of the highest in East Africa, exceeding those of Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Newborn and child deaths have also declined slightly and are severely constrained by inequities. For example, children born to mothers with only primary education face far higher mortality than those whose mothers have secondary education and beyond.

Persistent inequalities continue to deny children a healthy start in life.

The Urgency of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Bill

Kenya’s MNCH services have suffered from fragmented policies, inconsistent county financing, and short-term funding. Devolution has blurred responsibilities between national and county governments, leading to gaps in planning, poor reporting, and weak accountability.

The Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Bill, 2023, proposed by Sen. Beatrice Akinyi Ogolla, presents a vital opportunity to change this trajectory.

The MNCH Bill seeks to establish a clear legal framework guaranteeing the right to maternal, newborn, and child health services. It obliges both national and county governments to respect, protect, and fulfil these rights through enforceable mechanisms.

At its core, the Bill affirms that every woman and child in Kenya, regardless of location or economic status, deserves timely, affordable, respectful, and high-quality care.

It embeds service delivery in the principles of universal access, equity, dignity, availability of essential services, and continuous quality improvement.

How the MNCH Bill Delivers on the Promise of UHC.

1. Guarantees the right to the highest attainable health for all mothers and children.
2. Ensures access to the full continuum of care, including before pregnancy and through childhood
3. Protects marginalised and hard-to-reach communities, such as people living with disabilities or those unable to pay for health services
4. Guarantees respectful, dignified and non-discriminatory care, irrespective of identity, such as age, marital status or social background
5. Strengthens health financing at the county level through mandated country budget allocation for MNCH
6. Improves service availability through infrastructure and supplies such as ambulances, essential medicine and skilled health workers.
7. Institutionalizes accountability and reporting, with both the Cabinet Secretary and County Executives mandated to submit annual reports to Parliament and County Assemblies on services, financing, and gaps
8. Strengthens monitoring, data, and quality assurance through mandated continuous monitoring, maternal and child death surveillance, with enforcement of quality standards.

The MNCH Bill is more than a piece of legislation; it is a lifeline and a turning point for millions of Kenyan families.

By making essential services enforceable rights, strengthening accountability, and securing sustainable domestic financing, the Bill lays the foundation for people-centred Universal Health Coverage.

Political Will and National Commitment

Political leadership is aligning behind reforms for women and children. President Ruto’s involvement with the Global Leaders Network for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and his directive for real-time reporting of maternal and child deaths signal a strong executive commitment.

Cabinet Secretary Hon. Aden Duale’s focus on realizing the Social Health Authority and robust county leadership further demonstrates that Kenya is mobilizing on all fronts.

With government officials, communities, civil society, and health workers rallying together, Kenya stands ready to turn these commitments into action.

Call to Action

As the MNCH Bill reaches its final committee stages, now is a critical moment for public involvement. Citizens are encouraged to contact their Members of Parliament to express support for the Bill.

Advocates, experts, donors, and community members must unite and implement strategies to accelerate the reduction of maternal, newborn, and child mortality.

The passage of the MNCH Bill will show that “health for all” is no longer just a slogan, but a binding national pledge.

Hon. Dr James Nyikal is the Chairperson of National Assembly Health Committee; Dr. Margaret Lubaale is the Executive Director of Health NGO Network (HENNET); and Prof Anne-Beatrice Kihara is the immediate former President of International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Nepal's anti-corruption watchdog has filed a corruption case against 55 individuals and a Chinese company in relation to the construction of the $216 million airport.

US investigative firm Nardello & Co on 7 November set up a Paris branch on the Rue de Berri, near [...]

While US President Donald Trump's national security strategy continues to make waves, the US Congress appears to have taken a [...]

Crossing the threshold of the InterContinental Geneva on the morning of Sunday 23 November felt like an obstacle course given [...]

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence quietly issued an order in September banning a Swiss cybersecurity firm from [...]

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (IO, 23/07/25), is pressing full steam ahead with her vision [...]

A decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [...]

Why America and China are the world's only great powers.

Can the continent escape its Trump trap?

The move, which Anutin Charnvirakul said would "return power to the people," will pave the way for a snap election in late January or early February.

Im letzten Interview vor seinem Vorruhestand spricht Korpskommandant Hans-Peter Walser offen über Politik, Zivildienstabgänge und warum Militärdienst nie «attraktiv» sein könne.

U.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division execute Typhoon Crossbow 26.1 on Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan, Dec. 3, 2025. Typhoon Crossbow is an exercise that proves 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment’s ability to establish an expeditionary advanced base by executing a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Rapid Infiltration. HIRAIN is the process of identifying a target, seizing key terrain, inserting High Mobility Rocket Systems, destroying the target and retrograding back to a secure location. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Lance Cpl. Zainab Sink)

This has got to be one of the craziest concepts ever.

You're gonna operate in contested space.  But while operating in this space you're gonna seize an airfield or piece of ground suitable for a KC-130 to land on, discharge a HIMARS, launch missiles, get back aboard the airplane AND get out of the area before the enemy can hit back.

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!  THIS SHIT IS BATSHIT CRAZY! 

From trade deals to the South China Sea, states are navigating risks as they exercise agency amid shifting great power competition.

Our guide to the key concepts and phrases related to the country's ever-widening graft scandal.

The attack in Rakhine State is part of an offensive that the junta has waged in the run-up to its contentious election on December 28.

A Uvira, cité de l'est de la République démocratique du Congo, ceux qui n'ont pas pu fuir attendent désormais avec angoisse de connaître leur sort entre les mains du groupe armé M23, soutenu par l'armée rwandaise, qui consolide jeudi son contrôle sur la ville. L'offensive du M23 sur l'agglomération de plusieurs centaines de milliers d'habitants a été lancée début décembre, peu avant la signature d'un accord "pour la paix" entre le Rwanda et la RDC, sous l'égide de Washington.

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP