Pathfinder International

Evidence shows that women reinvest up to 90% of their earnings back into their families and communities, compared to 30% to 40% for men.

As shocks and stressors become more numerous and complex, women’s health and economic autonomy are more important than ever.

For almost two decades, across lakeside communities in Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya to flood-prone regions in Bangladesh and drought-stricken areas of Pakistan and Niger, we’ve supported women with access to climate-resilient livelihoods.

Through sustainable agricultural practices, access to capital, skill-building, and new enterprises, women are fostering economic development and stability.

Read more about this approach in our annual report:
https://bit.ly/4vHOuwa

In three regions of Burkina Faso, communities hosting internally displaced populations face increasing pressure on local health systems. Through Projet Sauver la Vie, Pathfinder, with support from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, partnered with local communities, universities, and government leaders to help address this challenge.

Together, we designed and constructed six climate-resilient green community health posts that bring essential primary health care services closer to the people who need them most.

These facilities are powered by solar energy and feature climate-smart designs that maximize natural light and ventilation, improve water and sanitation infrastructure, and create more comfortable spaces for both patients and providers.

What makes this initiative especially unique is the people behind it. Local architecture students helped design innovative, eco-friendly health post models adapted to Burkina Faso's climate realities, while communities contributed labor, materials, and local knowledge throughout the construction process.

This innovative partnership demonstrates how communities, universities, government partners, and development organizations can work together to strengthen health systems while building resilience to climate challenges.

Women&Co Kenya is live! We launched via an innovation lab where we co-designed with our new Women&Co community including health entrepreneurs, climate tech distributors, health innovators, impact investors, and government leaders—unpacking the state of women's entrepreneurship in Kenya and how we can make faster traction for women to build, own and scale enterprises that make life better for everyone around them. The ideas and contributions were extraordinary and will form the foundation of our strategy in Kenya.

We will share more in the coming weeks, but get in touch if you'd like to be involved.

Amref Health Africa
Association for Women in Energy and Extractives Industry Kenya
Solar Sister
Villgro Africa

Jordan’s growing green economy is creating new conversations around sustainability, innovation, and climate resilience—at the same time, it is also opening important pathways for women’s employment, leadership and entrepreneurship.

For many women, entering the workforce still comes with structural barriers: limited access to opportunities, mobility restrictions, caregiving responsibilities, and unequal professional networks. However, women across Jordan are increasingly stepping into emerging sectors tied to sustainability, cleantech, environmental innovation, and climate-smart entrepreneurship.

In this edition of our Country-Led in Action newsletter, Anna White, Regional Partnerships Officer and Project Lead, demonstrates how Pathfinder's Improving Leadership and Employability of Underserved Populations in Jordan project works with women and young people to build their skills and connect them to real, sustainable economic pathways.

Read the newsletter: https://bit.ly/4vpiqwg
Subscribe to Country-Led in Action on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/4kVtZa5

In the heart of Northern Uganda, a transformation is giving critically ill newborns a better chance at life.

Neonatal deaths remain the leading contributor to child mortality in Uganda, with 1 in every 45 newborns dying within the first 28 days of life. The UK-funded Empowering Women for Better Reproductive Health Outcomes (EMPOWER) Program, led by Pathfinder International in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, equipped and fully functionalized three neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) at Fort Portal, Masaka, and Lira Regional Referral Hospitals. These upgraded the health facilities enable health workers to provide advanced interventions, including mechanical ventilation for newborns requiring specialized support. The expanded units now include dedicated sections for intensive care, high dependency care, special care, and kangaroo mother care, creating a stronger continuum of care for small and sick newborns from the moment of delivery through recovery.

During the NICU functionalization process, which involved mentorship of health workers on neonatal resuscitation, intubation, and mechanical ventilation, Lira Regional Referral Hospital—for the first time—successfully ventilated and stabilized a critically ill 6-hour-old, 1.2 kg neonate admitted in the NICU. This moment demonstrated how comprehensive investments in equipment, skills, and health systems can immediately translate into survival for vulnerable newborns.

Vincent Aseme Talasi, 42, is a father to six children. His wife, Mila Kunzulu, gave birth to their youngest just a week and a half ago. Meanwhile, their eldest is preparing to attend nursing school—15 kilometers away from their village in the K**a health zone of Kwilu Province, DRC.

Vincent was already feeling the financial strain from his first child’s tuition fees, and he had five more educations to budget for… in addition to providing clean water and sufficient food to his growing family every day. What would it be like to keep this up until his youngest was grown? In another five years, would this new baby still be his youngest child? Or would there be more siblings to follow?

One day, when Vincent attended a family planning awareness session in his village, something clicked.

See how the SANRU-Pathfinder consortium reaches couples like Vincent and Mila with access to contraceptive care and counseling through an innovative mobile strategy: https://bit.ly/43zWNxj

SANRU Asbl

An Innovative Mobile Strategy for Changing Perceptions of Family Planning in Kwilu Province, DRC - Pathfinder International Vincent Aseme Talasi, 42, is a father to six children. His wife, Mila Kunzulu, gave birth to their youngest just a week and a half ago. Meanwhile, their

Across the plains of Northern Tanzania, pastoralist families in Monduli, Kiteto, and Simanjiro depend on livestock, mobility, and the natural environment for survival. Yet today, climate change, prolonged droughts, floods, population growth, and expanding agriculture are placing unprecedented pressure on these fragile ecosystems. For many families, a single health emergency or economic shock can mean selling precious livestock—their main source of livelihood—pushing them deeper into poverty and threatening their future.

To break this cycle, the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) Northern Tanzania Rangelands Project introduced an innovative Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) approach that goes beyond temporary aid. By integrating economic empowerment, community health, education, and environmental conservation, MACP is building stronger, healthier, and more resilient communities from the ground up.

Obstetric fistula is a devastating condition that causes physical and psychological trauma for the women who endure it. Yet the condition is completely preventable through timely access to high-quality emergency obstetric care.

As Pathfinder's Ritah Waddimba writes this compelling op-ed:

"Delays in identifying a misaligned fetus, poor management of difficult labor, and hesitant or poorly executed surgical decisions directly translate into preventable structural injuries.

From a health systems perspective, obstetric fistula is the ultimate diagnostic indicator of a breakdown in quality."

Pathfinder's programme has supported 48 women to access fistula repair and care. These women have regained their health, dignity, and the opportunity to participate fully in their communities.

The op-ed calls for policymakers and partners to institutionalize standardized emergency obstetric training, strengthen clinical governance through on-site mentorship and rigid quality assurance systems, and scale up investments in women’s health.

We must ensure no woman ever leaves a health facility with a life altering injury caused by a gap in clinical skills.

Read the op-ed: https://bit.ly/4u3sTwh

Picture: Agaba received treatment at a fistula repair camp in Mubende, Uganbda, hosted by EMPOWERUg.

You're invited! Join Population Services International, ThinkPlace Global Network, Orpesi Collective, RAES, A360, Jhpiego, JSI and Pathfinder International for our upcoming webinar:

Capturing What Matters: A Human-Centered Design Documentation Guide Launch Webinar & Conversation with Co-authors
Date: Tuesday 16 June 2026
Time: 4:00 PM East Africa / 3:00 PM South Africa / 2:00 PM West Africa / 9:00 AM Eastern

Register: https://bit.ly/3RlEzNc

Great HCD work is happening across global public health and development every day. Too much of it never gets documented, and the field loses something every time that happens.

Participate in the launch of a new guide: Capturing What Matters -- a practical tool to help you capture your process, share what you learned, and contribute to a stronger collective knowledge base for HCD in our sector.

Join the co-authors for a one-hour webinar where we'll walk through the guide, discuss the challenges of documentation, and share examples from practitioners doing it well. We'll also look at how to keep HCD knowledge and the community active in this time of contracting funding.

Anissa Fataou and her husband, Soumana, live with their four children in Harikanassou village in Niger’s Dosso region. Although married for 12 years, Anissa and Soumana found it difficult to communicate openly about family planning. Like many other couples in rural Niger, their perceptions of family planning were shaped by myths and misinformation.

See how Pathfinder's J-Matassa project reached Anissa and Soumana with reproductive health care and tools for couples' communication:

Dissolving Mistrust through Dialogue: How the RMA Model Transformed the Life of a Couple in Niger - Pathfinder International Anissa Fataou and her husband, Soumana, live with their four children in Harikanassou village, located in the Boboye health district of Niger’s Dosso region. Although married for 12 years, Anissa and Soumana found it difficult to communicate openly about family planning. Like many other couples in...