DHAKA, June 15, 2026 (BSS) - Bangladesh took centre stage in global health this week, announcing before the world’s midwifery community in Lisbon that it will create and deploy 25,000 midwives across its public health system by 2030. 

The pledge, the largest investment in the country’s midwifery workforce in its history, was delivered on June 14 by Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Affairs Dr S M Ziauddin Hyder at the 34th Triennial Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), said a press release received here today.

At the Congress opening ceremony, UNFPA Executive Director Diene Keita singled out Bangladesh as a ‘trailblazer’ in building a professional midwifery cadre, naming it among a handful of champion countries leading the global Midwifery Accelerator. 

“Bangladesh is showing the world that investing in midwives is investing in survival,” said Keita, announcing the commitment in Lisbon. “This landmark commitment sends a powerful message: maternal mortality is not inevitable.”

The commitment carries the weight of 4,000 lives a year — the number of women in Bangladesh who still die annually from causes that are almost entirely preventable. 

The country has already reduced maternal mortality from 574 deaths per 100,000 live births in the mid-1980s to 136 today. Yet 30 per cent of births still happen at home, and only 2,557 midwives currently serve the country’s 6,215 public health facilities. 

Midwives can deliver up to 90 per cent of essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health services, prevent up to two-thirds of maternal and newborn deaths, and return up to US$16 in social and economic gains for every US$1 invested.

Addressing delegates in Lisbon, Dr. Hyder framed the pledge as part of Bangladesh’s broader shift towards a prevention-centred health system, one that supports mothers before complications arise and ensures every child receives a healthy start in life. 

Placing midwives at the centre of this transformation, he said: “When we empower midwives, we empower women. When we empower women, we strengthen families. And when we strengthen families, we build stronger nations.”

“Bangladesh made a promise to its mothers and this week, in Lisbon, it kept it and raised the stakes for the whole world," said Catherine Breen Kamkong, UNFPA Representative in Bangladesh. 

“We congratulate the Government on a commitment that will change what childbirth means for millions of families. UNFPA has been honoured to walk alongside Bangladesh’s midwifery journey, and we will be there for every one of the 25,000 to come,” Kamkong said.

The deployment will be phased over the next four years, prioritizing primary healthcare facilities where skilled care is needed most. With 25,000 midwives at work, the Sustainable Development Goal target of 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, once unthinkable, moves decisively within Bangladesh’s reach.