Key Takeaways
- Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap each commit $50 million, or $100 million combined, to Uzima stillbirth prevention.
- Uzima aims to cut stillbirth rates in half over the next decade in select countries, starting in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Wellcome Leap's yearly share of the commitment is about 9.8% of its charitable disbursements for the fiscal year ending September 2025.
The Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap each committed $50 million to Uzima, a stillbirth prevention program announced on October 12, 2026. The combined $100 million is spread over the program's first three years. No recipient organization or participating country has been named yet.
What the Uzima Stillbirth Program Will Fund
Uzima will identify, validate and scale promising innovations that can help families and health workers recognize risks earlier and respond to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. The effort will build on technologies developed through Wellcome Leap's In Utero program and on innovations supported by the Maternal, Newborn, Child Nutrition and Health program at the Gates Foundation. The program expects to identify an initial package of innovations by early 2027.
The name is the Swahili word for life and well-being. The organizations say the aim is to show that stillbirth rates can be cut in half over the next decade in select countries, then use those results as a template for other health systems.
Nearly 2 million babies are stillborn each year, one every 17 seconds, and almost half of those losses occur in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization's Every Newborn Action Plan sets a target of 12 or fewer stillbirths per 1,000 births by 2030, according to Billionaires.Africa.
Anita Zaidi, president of the Gender Equality Division at the Gates Foundation, said: "We're working toward a future where no mother, baby, or child dies from a preventable cause."
Measuring the Commitment Against Each Funder's Giving
Spread over three years, each $50 million works out to about $16.7 million a year. The announcement does not say how the money will be paid, so this assumes an even schedule. The Gates Foundation disbursed $8,101,803,172 to charity in 2024, so the yearly amount is about 0.21% of that total, according to its Form 990-PF, the annual IRS return that private foundations file.
Wellcome Leap disbursed $170,075,389 to charity in the fiscal year ending September 2025. The same yearly amount is about 9.8% of that figure, according to its Form 990-PF filing. For Wellcome Leap, the commitment is a far larger test of its budget than it is for the Gates Foundation.
Who Else Is Being Asked to Join
Both organizations say more money will be needed. They are calling on investors, philanthropies, governments and other partners to join the effort, and they are inviting ministers of health to help shape the program. Wellcome Leap, founded by the Wellcome Trust in 2020 as a U.S. nonprofit, says it has committed more than $250 million to programs aimed at improving health outcomes for women worldwide.
The Gates Foundation said in May 2025 that it would spend about $200 billion over two decades and close on December 31, 2045, according to Billionaires.Africa. That outlet calls the $50 million modest against that scale, but notes that the stillbirth focus targets a condition the organizations describe as overlooked. Initial activity is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, and neither organization has named a participating country yet.
People Also Ask
What is the Uzima stillbirth program?
Uzima is a stillbirth prevention program from the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap. It aims to show that stillbirth rates can be cut in half over the next decade in select countries, starting with partners in sub-Saharan Africa.
How much is the Gates Foundation giving to Uzima?
The Gates Foundation is committing $50 million to Uzima, the same amount Wellcome Leap is committing. Each organization is contributing its $50 million over the program's first three years, for a combined $100 million.
When will Uzima name its first country partner?
Uzima expects to announce its first participating country partner in the coming months. It also expects to identify an initial package of innovations by early 2027, and no country has been named yet.
Sources: GlobeNewswire, Billionaires.Africa.