The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) have announced a five-year strategic partnership to strengthen the capacity, support, promotion, and advocacy for midwives working to their full scope of practice in humanitarian and fragile settings globally. This partnership aims to increase acceptance and utilization of midwives across their full scope of practice, including sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health (SRMNAH) services.

This landmark collaboration brings together IRC's extensive experience delivering essential maternal and newborn healthcare across all levels of the health system in the most fragile, crisis-affected settings, with ICM's position as the global voice of midwives, representing more than 100 midwives' associations worldwide.

Meeting an Urgent Global Need

Conflict and crises weaken health systems and lead to staggeringly high rates of maternal and newborn mortality. While global maternal and neonatal mortality has declined over recent decades, these gains have largely bypassed conflict-affected populations where progress to reduce maternal mortality has stalled. Countries with humanitarian emergencies are home to only 13% of the global population, but they account for 58% of global maternal deaths, 39% of newborn deaths, 41% of stillbirth.

In these settings, access to skilled care before, during, and after birth is often disrupted or unavailable. Midwives could provide around 90% of essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health services, yet they are too often not recognized, included, or supported as part of humanitarian response systems, limiting their ability to deliver this care where it is most needed.