We Are Bringing Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility Together to Safeguard Mothers and Children – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has called for stronger collaboration between governments and the private sector to improve maternal and child health, saying public policy must be matched by corporate responsibility to protect the lives of mothers and children.

Speaking at the “Full Circle: Making Global Development Work Again” side event of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Mahama identified maternal and child health as one of the key areas through which the Accra Reset agenda would be tested.

He said health was chosen as an initial focus of the global reset because it remains one of the most important areas of human development and because weaknesses in health systems continue to have serious consequences, particularly for women and children.

“Globally, nearly seven out of 10 maternal deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa every year, and my own country, Ghana, is not an exception,” President Mahama said.

He noted that Ghana’s maternal mortality rate remains above the recommended Sustainable Development Goal target, describing the situation as one that requires urgent and sustained action.

President Mahama said the government could not address the challenge alone and highlighted initiatives designed to bring together public policy and private-sector support.

He cited the Mother Africa Initiative, championed by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, and the Business United for Mothers, Babies, and Youth (BUMBY) campaign as examples of efforts seeking to mobilise broader support for maternal, child and youth health.

«“We are bringing public policy and corporate responsibility together to safeguard the lives of mothers and children,” he said.»

According to President Mahama, such initiatives would provide an opportunity to test the proposed financial and governance architecture of the Accra Reset in practical terms.

He said the focus should not only be on developing policies but also on ensuring that those policies produce measurable improvements in people’s lives.

The President linked the maternal and child health agenda to the broader objective of strengthening health sovereignty across the Global South.

He argued that countries must build stronger domestic health systems, develop local production capacity and reduce excessive dependence on external sources for essential health products.

President Mahama also launched the report “A Sovereign Future for Health” at the New York event. The report contains 10 recommendations aimed at reforming global health governance and strengthening the capacity of countries to shape their own health priorities.

He said Ghana would work with governments, international health organisations, development finance institutions, philanthropies and the private sector to translate the recommendations into practical programmes.

President Mahama said the ultimate measure of the Accra Reset should be its ability to deliver tangible improvements for ordinary people.

He stressed that the global development system must ultimately work for individuals whose lives depend on functioning health systems, including mothers and children.

“The reality must be for that baby girl born tonight, whether in Kathmandu, in Arusha, or Damango,” he said.