Resilience in Action: Our 2026 Impact Report 

The year 2025 tested global health in ways few expected.  

As funding contracted and health systems came under extreme pressure, one thing became increasingly clear: when you invest in skilled health workers, health care improves, lives are saved, and health systems become stronger and more resilient.  

That’s exactly what your support made possible. 

Together with governments, universities, and health facilities, we supported the graduation of more than 930 new health workers, trained more than 12,000 in-service health workers, and strengthened health systems serving more than 108 million people.  

Those investments translated into better care and better outcomes. Across Seed-supported health facilities, we saw a 19% decline in the direct obstetric maternal mortality ratio, a 38% decline in maternal deaths from hemorrhage and sepsis, and a 6% decline in the newborn mortality ratio. 

But these numbers only tell part of the story. 

Across our partner countries, investments in the health workforce translated into measurable improvements for families and communities. 

• Malawi:  We’re expanding a midwifery model of care to12 additional health facilities after one Seed-supported site recorded zero maternal deaths for more than two years. Integrated primary health care services are now reaching more than 800,000 people across 14 facilities. 

• Uganda: We helped double the country’s number of neonatologists, giving more newborns access to specialized care, while Mbale Regional Referral Hospital nearly halved its institutional maternal mortality rate. 

• Sierra Leone: Our strengthened midwifery preceptorship program is preparing the next generation of skilled midwives while strengthening the clinical practice of today’s midwifery workforce, helping ensure safer pregnancies and births for years to come. 

• Zambia: At Chilenje Level One Hospital, investments in family medicine and maternal and newborn health are demonstrating how a stronger primary care workforce improves health outcomes. Newborn mortality fell by nearly half.  

The year also marked important progress on the policy front. 

Working alongside the governments of Zambia, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, we advised on the development of their national Health Compacts launched at the 2025 UHC Forum in Tokyo, advancing country-led plans to strengthen and sustainably finance resilient health systems for the future. 

None of this would have been possible without the governments, universities, health facilities, donors, and partners who chose to invest in resilience: stronger health workers and stronger health systems.   

Thank you for helping build the health workforce of the future.