WHO and Doris Mollel Foundation Join Forces on Newborn Survival

The World Health Organization has entered a new partnership with Tanzania's Doris Mollel Foundation to strengthen care and improve survival for small and sick newborns, bringing together global health expertise and community-focused experience to address preventable newborn deaths, particularly across Africa.

The memorandum of understanding was signed on 29 June 2026 by Dr Jeremy Farrar, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Care. The agreement creates a framework for the two organisations to work together on advocacy, research, evidence generation and public communication around newborn health.

Partnership Puts Vulnerable Newborns at the Centre

The collaboration will focus closely on babies who are born premature, have a low birth weight or become seriously ill shortly after birth, groups that can require specialised and timely care to give them the strongest possible chance of survival and healthy development.

WHO's Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child, Adolescent and Ageing Health will work with the Doris Mollel Foundation to strengthen attention around these needs, with Africa serving as a major focus while lessons and advocacy from the partnership are expected to have wider global relevance.

The agreement creates opportunities to connect international health guidance with evidence and experiences gathered from communities where maternal and newborn health services face significant challenges.

Research and Advocacy to Support Better Newborn Care

Planned work includes joint advocacy through regional and international platforms such as the African Union and the African First Ladies Development Organization, giving newborn health issues greater visibility among leaders and organisations able to influence health priorities.

Research will form another part of the partnership, with the organisations supporting efforts to identify and document effective models of newborn care so successful approaches can be understood, shared and potentially adapted in other settings.

Coordinated communication around major health observances, including World Prematurity Day, will also be used to raise awareness about the needs of premature and vulnerable newborns and the care required to improve their chances of survival.

Tanzanian Foundation Brings Community Experience

The Doris Mollel Foundation is a women-led organisation based in Tanzania that works to prevent avoidable maternal and newborn deaths while supporting adolescent reproductive health across East Africa.

Its programmes combine research and evidence with community-led interventions, giving the organisation practical experience of the health challenges faced by mothers, newborns and young people within the region.

By pairing that experience with WHO's global health reach, the partnership creates another route for evidence from communities to inform wider discussions about newborn care while strengthening advocacy for health systems capable of supporting babies who need specialised care from their earliest moments of life.