African Lawmakers Push Three Zeros Agenda at 153rd IPU Assembly

What the report says

African lawmakers meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, have used the 153rd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly to press for stronger action on the African Union’s “Three Zeros” health agenda. According to Nile Post, the discussions focused on preventing maternal, newborn and child deaths through better laws, more reliable financing and tighter parliamentary oversight.

The assembly is taking place from October 5 to 9 at the Arusha International Conference Centre under the theme of inclusive governance and community empowerment. At a high-level meeting on women, children and adolescent health, speakers said parliaments must do more than endorse health commitments and should help turn them into funded programmes, functioning services and accountability systems. Tanzania’s National Assembly Speaker Mussa Azzan Zungu said lawmakers have a role in legislation, budgeting and oversight, while other participants urged governments to prioritize maternal care, reproductive health, nutrition and adolescent health.

The article also cited remarks from Ummy Mwalimu, an adviser to Tanzania’s president, who said Africa has reduced maternal mortality since 2000 but not quickly enough to meet global targets. She said the continent still carries a very large share of the world’s maternal deaths. Related contributions from African lawmakers, Africa CDC and health advocates emphasized that many deaths are preventable and linked to conditions such as haemorrhage, hypertension, anaemia, prematurity and birth asphyxia.

The broader context is that the Three Zeros agenda seeks zero preventable maternal and newborn deaths, zero unvaccinated children and zero home deliveries without skilled care. The meeting framed African parliaments as key actors in converting that goal into practical improvements in health systems and outcomes.