EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health (2016–2030) — "Survive, Thrive, Transform" — is the overarching framework guiding the Every Woman Every Child movement and shaping how PMNCH, UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF, and other partners coordinate their work on RMNCAH. Launched alongside the SDGs in 2015, the Strategy represents the most ambitious agenda ever articulated for the health of women, children, and adolescents — encompassing not only survival (ending preventable deaths) but also thriving (physical and mental well-being) and transformation (enabling environments including education, gender equality, and rights).
The Strategy's operational framework defines priority actions across: financing (domestic resource mobilisation, innovative financing); country leadership (national health plans, accountability); and innovation (research, digital health, commodities). It sets specific targets aligned with the SDGs: ending preventable maternal deaths (SDG 3.1), newborn deaths (SDG 3.2), and under-5 deaths (SDG 3.2), while also addressing adolescent health, nutrition, GBV, and mental health.
For UNFPA, the Global Strategy is the contextual framework within which its maternal health, adolescent SRHR, and GBV work sits. UNFPA is one of the "H6" agencies (now SDG3 Global Action Plan signatories) jointly responsible for supporting countries in implementing the Strategy.
KEY FACTS
- Full title: "Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health (2016–2030): Survive, Thrive, Transform"
- Three objectives: (1) Survive — end preventable deaths; (2) Thrive — ensure health and well-being; (3) Transform — expand enabling environments
- Targets: Aligned with SDG 3 — MMR below 70/100,000; neonatal mortality below 12/1,000; under-5 mortality below 25/1,000; adolescent health targets
- Adolescent inclusion: The 2016 Strategy was the first to explicitly include adolescents alongside women and children — a significant expansion from the 2010 version
- Implementation partners: WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank, UNAIDS, UN Women (the "H6+"), plus bilateral donors, civil society, and private sector
- SDG3 Global Action Plan (GAP): 12 multilateral agencies aligned their support to countries around the Global Strategy (2018); UNFPA is a signatory
- Operational Framework: Defines 9 areas for action across the three objectives, with specific indicators and milestones
- Midpoint assessment (2023): Found significant progress on child survival but stagnation on maternal mortality and adolescent health
DETAIL
The Global Strategy expanded the agenda from "survival" (the dominant frame of the MDG era) to include "thriving" and "transformation." This was significant because it acknowledged that keeping women and children alive is necessary but insufficient — they must also be healthy, educated, empowered, and living in supportive environments. For UNFPA, this expansion aligned with the ICPD's rights-based approach and justified programming beyond clinical service delivery (e.g., CSE, gender-transformative programming, adolescent agency).
The 2023 midpoint assessment found that child mortality continued to decline (from 5.9 million under-5 deaths in 2015 to approximately 4.9 million in 2022) but maternal mortality stagnated (essentially unchanged since 2015 at approximately 287,000 annual deaths). Adolescent health received increased attention but outcomes improvement was uneven.
SOURCES
- EWEC: "Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health 2016–2030" (full document)
- EWEC: "Protect the Promise: 2022 Progress Report" (UNICEF/WHO)
- SDG3 GAP: "Stronger Collaboration, Better Health" (2018)
RELATED DOCUMENTS
- PMNCH-W-04 (Every Woman Every Child)
- PMNCH-W-02 (Accountability Framework)
- UNFPA-O-02 (Three Transformative Results)
- UNFPA-H-03 (SDG 3 and 5)
- UNFPA-W-01 (Maternal Health)