13/06/2026
Tomorrow, the ICM Triennial Congress opens in Portugal, following three days of Council meetings. This Congress is the largest global gathering of midwives, bringing together thousands of midwives, researchers, educators, advocates, policymakers and partners to advance maternal and newborn health.
Yet, at this moment, hundreds of midwives are being left out of this global meeting.
Visa refusals and delays are preventing midwives from Africa and Asia, many of them leaders, academics, researchers and speakers, from travelling to Lisbon. These are midwives working in the regions with the highest burden of maternal and newborn mortality. They have knowledge, evidence and experience that global maternal health discussions need.
Their exclusion is not only an administrative issue. It limits equitable participation in global health, silences midwives whose work is essential to saving lives, and weakens the international collaboration needed to improve outcomes for women, newborns and families.
The letter below, signed by 108 midwife leaders, educators, researchers, practitioners and advocates from across the world, calls for urgent reconsideration of these visa refusals.
Read letter via link in stories today.
