Monica Geingos, former First Lady of Namibia, has been appointed by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) as its new Board Chair to champion the health of women, children, and adolescents worldwide.
The appointment comes as women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health faces strain from fiscal constraints, uneven recovery trajectories, and widening inequities across many countries.
Geingos is set to succeed Rt Hon Helen Clark, who completes her tenure in November 2026.
Clark, who announced the appointment, described Geingos as well placed to lead the partnership.
“Monica is exceptionally well placed to lead the partnership at this moment, bringing together principled leadership with practical experience and a clear understanding that progress for women, children and adolescents depends on political courage, inclusive partnerships and sustained investment.”
Clark noted that the appointment signals PMNCH’s determination to keep women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, at the center of global health and development at a time of growing pressure on health financing and widening inequality.
Geingos brings distinguished leadership experience across law, finance, youth empowerment, gender equality, and public health to the role.
A trained lawyer and former First Lady of Namibia, she currently serves as Executive Chairperson of the One Economy Foundation and helped co-create the #BeFree youth development model, designed to respond to young people’s social, economic, and sexual and reproductive health needs.
She serves as a UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and recently co-chaired the Global Commission on Inequality and AIDS alongside Joseph Stiglitz and Michael Marmot.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, paid tribute to Helen Clark’s steadfast commitment to advancing the health and rights of women, children, and adolescents while strengthening global partnership and accountability.
He described Geingos as bringing a rare combination of strategic leadership, public credibility, and deep commitment to equity, noting that her leadership will be a powerful force for progress at a time of significant change in global health.
Diene Keita, Executive Director of UNFPA, expressed gratitude to Clark for her extraordinary stewardship and dedication to advancing the health, rights, and dignity of women and young people worldwide.
Keita stated that UNFPA looks forward to partnering closely with PMNCH under Geingos, describing her as a powerful advocate whose leadership will be instrumental to global efforts to protect and expand access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
PMNCH, hosted by the World Health Organization and based in Geneva, brings together nearly 1,500 partner organisations across six constituencies to mobilize advocacy for the health and well-being of women, children, and adolescents worldwide.
PMNCH highlighted that sexual and reproductive health and rights are increasingly under threat, with declining funding, policy reversals, and reduced access to essential services such as family planning, safe motherhood care, and adolescent-responsive health services.
Jagat Prakash Nadda, India’s Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, welcomed the appointment, expressing confidence that Geingos’ leadership will strengthen global partnerships to advance positive maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health outcomes.
Dr Pakishe Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s Minister of Health, emphasized the significance of the appointment for Africa and beyond, stating that the continent needs strong and credible voices to champion investment in health, dignity, and human potential.
Motsoaledi said the appointment sends a strong signal that women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health, including sexual and reproductive health, must remain central to continental and global health priorities.
Accepting the appointment, Geingos said she was deeply honoured to build on Helen Clark’s exceptional leadership, which helped shape PMNCH into a powerful global platform for advocacy and accountability.
“At a time of profound global transition, the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents, including their sexual and reproductive health and rights, must be treated not as peripheral concerns, but as defining measures of whether societies are just, resilient and future-ready,” she stated.
Geingos stressed that the international community must protect hard-won gains, confront growing inequities, and ensure that every woman and young person has access to information, services, and rights needed to make informed choices about their lives and health.
Before becoming First Lady in 2015, Geingos spent 15 years in the financial sector, including work as a private equity and governance expert.
Her leadership has been recognized through appointments spanning United Nations SDG advocacy, youth empowerment initiatives, and global efforts focused on inequality, AIDS, and pandemics.
As Board Chair, Geingos will guide PMNCH’s strategic leadership, partner engagement, and advocacy as countries and institutions rethink how health is financed, governed, and delivered.
PMNCH, established in 2005, works to mobilize, align, and amplify partner voices to advocate for women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health and well-being, particularly for the most vulnerable populations.
