The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made a $1.2 million donation to strengthen maternal and newborn health services in Pakistan.
It will help launch and sustain a new two-year initiative with UNICEF. The Church is also partnering with UNICEF to help mothers and newborns across South Asia, with care before, during and after childbirth. The donation was announced on Monday, Aug. 31, in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The Church has previously partnered with UNICEF to support mothers and children, including with a $25 million donation earlier this year to UNICEF’s Child Nutrition Fund.
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson said the maternal and newborn health services initiative will strengthen healthcare systems and close resource gaps “so mothers can feel more confident in the care they and their children receive during pivotal moments of their lives, helping create healthier futures for families and communities.”
“Each mother and child has great worth and infinite potential, and we have seen how communities thrive when they receive the care and resources they need,” she said in a news release from the Church’s Pakistan website.
Pernille Ironside, UNICEF representative in Pakistan, said investing in sustainable and quality maternal and newborn care means saving precious lives.
“The generous support of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is helping UNICEF strengthen the health systems and services needed to give children the best possible start in life,” she said.
Elder Kelly R. Johnson, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s Asia Area, said the Church is grateful and pleased to continue the long-standing collaboration with UNICEF.
“The Church seeks to extend care to an ever-increasing number of God’s children in need — in this case helping thousands of mothers and newborn babies in Pakistan receive access to lifesaving care that will lead to a better life for each affected family,” he said.
Preventing avoidable deaths
The new program aims to reach 410,000 mothers and newborns in Pakistan over the next two years.
More than 700 newborns die, and around 500 are stillborn every day in Pakistan,and approximately two mothers die every hour from pregnancy-related complications in the country, reported the Pakistan Newsroom news release.
In South Asia each year, 784,000 newborns die within their first month of life, and 597,000 babies are stillborn. Malnutrition, gaps in referral systems, weak supply chains and unequal access to quality health services have complicated the problem.
Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF regional director for Asia and the Pacific, said nearly two-thirds of all deaths among children under 5 in South Asia occur in the very first month of life.
“For mothers and newborns alike, quality care before, during and after childbirth can mean the difference between life and death,” he said.
UNICEF reports the problem can be solved by focusing on maternal care before birth, routine immunizations, supporting health facilities with essential supplies and equipment, and strengthening the capacity for frontline healthcare workers.
This initiative aims to increase prenatal care coverage and institutional delivery rates by 50%, while also strengthening the quality and availability of essential maternal and newborn health services.
“Healthy families begin with mothers and newborns getting the care they need at the moments that matter most,” said Mickey Lui, Asia Area director for temporal affairs of the Church. “By investing in frontline health workers and the resources they need to provide quality care, we can help bring lifesaving maternal and newborn services closer to families and communities across South Asia.”
The Church and UNICEF
The Relief Society organization is leading the Church’s efforts to care for women and children, especially through child nutrition, maternal and newborn care, immunizations and education.
The Church of Jesus Christ works in collaboration with local and international organizations to help those in need and has supported UNICEF — the United Nations Children’s Fund — since 2013 with closely aligned goals.
In May 2026, the Church made a $25 million donation to UNICEF’s Child Nutrition Fund for mothers and children in need in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines and Sierra Leone.
At that time, Presiding Bishop W. Christopher Waddell said the Church is grateful to work with UNICEF.
“The Church’s efforts to care for those who are vulnerable are guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ to seek out and serve individuals,” he said.
The Church made other large donations in 2022 — with a $5 million donation to UNICEF’s new “No Time To Waste” global campaign to combat malnutrition; in 2023 with $10 million to strengthen health systems in the Central African Republic, Haiti, Mali and Mozambique.
