UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, launched its new "WomenX Collective" programme at the World Health Summit in Berlin on October 15, in conjunction with the opening of its first hub office in a global network of centres specializing in the promotion of women's health, especially sexual and reproductive health, in the German capital.
The Berlin office will be run in cooperation with Charité - Universitätsmedizin and the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH). With their new partnership, UNFPA and Charité aim to promote women's health, particularly in middle and low income countries and to address the lack of solutions and financial resources in this field.
"Every minute, at least two women die globally from breast or cervical cancer or from pregnancy-related complications due to inequitable access to healthcare," says Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA. "Through the WomenX Collective, UNFPA and Charité aim to help bring innovative health solutions to underserved communities, closing the health gap for women worldwide."
Initial financing commitments in place
With initial funding commitments from international donors, including the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Organon & Co., as well as a donation from Deutsche Postcode Lotterie, the WomenX Collective programme aims to raise at least $100 million in catalytic investment by 2030 to support women's health projects, scale innovative solutions locally and promote these solutions across sectors. This has the potential to avert more than 10.4 million unintended pregnancies, 3.2 million unsafe abortions, and 21,000 maternal deaths. With the network of hub offices, the programme aims to bring together experience and technical expertise from different countries and regions, as well as modern technologies and sustainable financing. The office in Berlin will be followed by a hub in Nairobi in 2025.
To mark the opening of the hub office and the ceremonial signing of the partnership between UNFPA and Charité, partners of the WomenX Collective programme will be joined by Dr. Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as representatives of the German healthcare sector and stakeholders from the Global South.
Additional quotes from participating organisations:
"The investment in women's health is convincing with numbers: Through new, women-centred evidence-driven investment opportunities, we want to show that for every euro invested, a dividend of over 7 euros is possible by 2030", says Dr. Nigina Muntean, Chief of Innovation at UNFPA. "By investing in women's health and fostering innovation, we can unlock significant economic returns and ensure advancements reach those most in need."
"Women's health is still under-researched and under-funded," says Prof. Dr. Heyo K. Kroemer, Chairman of the Board of Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and partner of the WomenX Collective initiative. "We are convinced of the collaborative and integrative approach of WomenX, so I am pleased that Charité can make a contribution here. In order to address women's health in a sustainable way, we need strong partnerships with institutions from the global North and South."
"We are delighted to welcome the WomenX Collective programme under our roof and to contribute to the success of this important project," says Prof. Dr. Christopher Baum, Chairman of the BIH Board of Directors at Charité and Chairman of the Translational Research Department at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. "WomenX Collective aims to leverage proximity to innovations and experts and Berlin features an outstanding ecosystem of health and innovation."
"The opening of UNFPA programme in Berlin in partnership with the Charité/BIH offers an opportunity to intensify the diverse initiatives in the field of women's health and to make this even more effective," says Prof. Dr. Jalid Sehouli, Medical Director Department of Gynecology including center of oncological surgery (Campus Virchow Klinikum) and Department of Gynaecology (Campus Benjamin Franklin).
- You can find out more about the programme here: https://www.unfpa.org/womenx-collective  ;
