Emergency hotline 0800 722 023 — Free, 24/7
  • 28 May 2026: the President launched the Kenya EWENE Acceleration Plan 2026–2028 and the 6-month Rapid Results Initiative
  • Emergency hotline: 0800 722 023 — Free, 24/7
  • Rapid Results Initiative: 28 May – 28 November 2026, with extra support for 26 high-burden counties
  • RRI target: 15% fewer maternal deaths, newborn deaths and stillbirths in health facilities in the 26 counties
  • KES 5 billion a year for SHA cover for mothers who cannot afford it
  • 900 health workers to be trained in emergency obstetric and newborn care across the 26 RRI counties
  • 1.5 million doses of heat-stable carbetocin to be procured to prevent heavy bleeding after birth
  • Half of maternal deaths involve danger signs not recognised in time — know the signs
  • 2028 goal: maternal deaths down from 355 to 140 or fewer per 100,000 live births
The 10 pillars

Ten pillars,
one promise.

Kenya's EWENE Acceleration Plan 2026–2028 works on ten fronts at once. Here is what each one is fixing, what is being done, and how we'll know it worked.

Read the full planThe 6-month RRI
What we're doing

The problem, the plan, the target

Each pillar starts with an honest look at what's going wrong today. The targets come from the plan's monitoring framework, so progress can be checked.

Policy & Planning

The problem: Kenya has good national policies, but maternal and newborn health is not always written into county plans and budgets — so it is easy to overlook.

What's being done

  • Every county sets up an EWENE steering committee and a technical committee that meets at least quarterly
  • Maternal and newborn health written into county development plans, work plans and budgets
  • Governors chair a monthly review of maternal and newborn deaths in their county
  • National planning guidelines aligned with UHC and EWENE, and county plans checked against them

🎯 By 2028: every county holds a monthly death-review meeting (41% today)

Quality of Care

The problem: Most births in Kenya now have a skilled attendant (89%). But care does not always follow the guidelines, and small gaps in an emergency cost lives.

What's being done

  • Updated quality standards and emergency-care checklists in every maternity unit
  • Every maternal death reviewed, and every newborn death reviewed by 2028 (67% today)
  • The 2023 guidance on bleeding after birth (PPH) and new labour-monitoring tools rolled out
  • Respectful, person-centred care measured by asking mothers as they leave

🎯 By 2028: 90% of facilities using the national guideline for quality obstetric and perinatal care (24% today)

Gender & Equity

The problem: Where a woman lives still shapes her chances — newborn deaths reach 37 per 1,000 in some counties. Adolescents and women in marginalised areas face extra barriers, and few men are involved.

What's being done

  • Gender and equity built into county maternal and newborn health plans and budgets
  • More facilities offering services designed for adolescents
  • Respectful, non-discriminatory care enforced in facilities and communities
  • Men encouraged and supported to take part in pregnancy and newborn care

🎯 By 2028: 90% of facilities offering adolescent health services (71% today)

Data, Monitoring & Evaluation

The problem: Data often arrives late or incomplete, and the lessons from each death do not always reach the facility that needs them.

What's being done

  • A live EWENE dashboard, with all 47 counties reporting
  • Communities report maternal and newborn deaths through the electronic community health system (eCHIS)
  • A public scorecard, updated monthly for each county, so progress is visible to everyone
  • Faster feedback from death reviews to counties and facilities

🎯 By 2028: all 47 counties reporting on the EWENE dashboard

Financing & Investment

The problem: Funding is too low, too scattered and too reliant on donors. Only 5% of facilities offering maternity services have all the equipment needed for comprehensive care.

What's being done

  • KES 5 billion a year for SHA cover for mothers who cannot afford it
  • Every county ring-fences money for maternal and newborn health
  • A ring-fenced last-mile fund so life-saving supplies never run out
  • More families registered with the Social Health Authority (SHA)

🎯 By 2028: 80% of each county's population registered with SHA

Maternal & Newborn Health Workforce

The problem: There are too few nurses and midwives with advanced newborn and emergency skills, and they are unevenly spread. Only 28% of facilities have staff trained in emergency obstetric care in the last two years.

What's being done

  • 900 health workers trained in emergency obstetric and newborn care, and 500 in comprehensive newborn care, across the 26 RRI counties
  • 260 skills corners — 10 high-volume facilities in each RRI county — with monthly emergency drills
  • Mentorship programmes in 150 level 4 and 5 hospitals by 2028
  • Trained midwives and nurses recruited and kept in maternity and newborn units

🎯 By 2028: 90% of facilities with staff trained in emergency obstetric care in the last two years (28% today)

Response & Resilience

The problem: Getting to the right hospital in time is still too hard. More than half of facilities lack a working ambulance, and few vehicles are equipped for newborns.

What's being done

  • Ambulances mapped and made functional in every county referral network
  • A referral coordinator and an emergency operations centre in every county
  • SHA reimbursement for emergency ambulance response
  • A national emergency transport system linking the scene, the ambulance and the hospital

🎯 By 2028: 80% of facilities able to provide all 7 basic emergency obstetric and newborn care functions (37% today)

Commodities & Technologies

The problem: Life-saving medicines run out — oxytocin is out of stock in 40% of facilities and magnesium sulphate in 48%. Equipment like CPAP machines and incubators is often not maintained.

What's being done

  • 1.5 million doses of heat-stable carbetocin, which prevents heavy bleeding after birth
  • Stock tracking that predicts shortages before shelves are empty
  • Maintenance contracts for newborn equipment such as CPAP and phototherapy
  • A target of 47,000 units of blood collected every month through KNBTS

🎯 By 2028: no facility out of oxytocin (40% today)

Advocacy, Accountability & Community Engagement

The problem: Half of maternal deaths (50.5%) and almost two-thirds of newborn deaths (64.8%) involve danger signs that were not recognised in time.

What's being done

  • Four radio and TV campaigns and four social media campaigns every year
  • Community dialogues and town halls in all 47 counties
  • Maternity open days so families know what to expect
  • Community health promoters, scorecards and barazas to hear from mothers and families

🎯 By 2028: every maternity facility holding open days

Research, Innovation & Knowledge Exchange

The problem: Kenya has tried promising ideas — CPAP for newborns, digital antenatal tracking, the uterine balloon tamponade — but too many stay stuck as pilots.

What's being done

  • A national maternal and newborn health innovation taskforce
  • One national library of interventions that have been shown to work
  • Yearly forums where researchers and policymakers act on the evidence together
  • International partnerships for research and evidence

🎯 By 2028: proven ideas adopted at scale, not left as pilots

Sources: Kenya EWENE Acceleration Plan 2026–2028 and the Maternal Newborn Health Rapid Results Initiative. "Today" figures are the plan's baselines.

What We Do

Implementation Areas

EWENE strengthens service delivery from community outreach to emergency obstetric and newborn care.

End-to-end care improvements from ANC to PNCView FAQs