Nigeria’s Maternal Mortality Crisis: UN Women, FG Seek Collective Action

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Federal Government have called for stronger collaboration, increased investment and innovative approaches to address Nigeria’s maternal mortality crisis and improve access to sexual and reproductive health services.

The call was made on Wednesday at the Second Annual National Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Conference 2026, organised by the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Networks in Abuja.

Speaking at the event, the UN Women Representative to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States.(ECOWAS), Beatrice Eyong, said maternal mortality remained a major public health challenge, with nearly 1,000 women dying for every 100,000 live births in Nigeria.

She said, “Too many women continue to lose their lives from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.”

She also expressed concern that fewer than half of births in Nigeria take place in health facilities, noting that access to skilled and quality maternal care remained uneven across communities, saying adolescent girls also face significant barriers, including child marriage, early and unintended pregnancies, gender-based violence,  and harmful social norms that restrict their choices.

Eyong said sexual and reproductive health and rights were central to gender equality, human rights, social justice and sustainable development, adding that they influenced educational attainment, economic participation, resilience and the ability of communities to thrive.

“When women and girls flourish, societies prosper. When a woman survives pregnancy and childbirth, families are strengthened. When adolescent girls remain in school and can make informed choices about their futures, communities become more resilient,” she said.

She called for stronger implementation of existing national policies and legal frameworks, including the National Gender Policy, the National Policy on the Health and Development of Adolescents and Young People, the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 and the National Health Act 2014.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, also called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, development partners, civil society organisations and communities to address sexual and reproductive health challenges.

He said, “They are not issues that can be addressed by the health sector alone. They require coordinated action across government, communities, development partners, civil society and the private sector.”

He called for greater emphasis on respectful maternity care, protection of patients’ dignity and rights, and community engagement to ensure women and girls participated meaningfully in decisions affecting their health and wellbeing.