UNGA80: African-led Innovation for Sustainable Futures Convened by eHealth Africa, in partnership with Population Services International (PSI), Population Council, and Reach Digital Health

For Immediate Release                                                                                           

As global attention converges at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) in New York, African-led organizations are stepping forward to spotlight the continent’s innovation on the world stage. eHealth Africa (eHA), building on its leadership from the Insights Learning Forum (ILF) 2025, is convening a high-level side event in partnership with Population Services International (PSI), Population Council, and Reach Digital Health to showcase Africa’s leadership in shaping sustainable futures through homegrown solutions.

The dialogue, titled African-led Innovation: Shaping Sustainable Futures With or Without Aid, will take place on September 24, 2025, from 3:00–5:00 pm EDT at Population Council, New York, with hybrid participation available. Register for free here: https://luma.com/idpc8rkc.

The session which will be moderated by Hon. Chernor Bah, Minister of Education for Sierra Leone and global advocate for youth empowerment comes against the backdrop of declining donor funding, rising global inequalities, and the urgent need for Africa to lead in designing and implementing digital innovations for sustainability; whether or not foreign aid is available. The side event will amplify Africa’s ingenuity and leadership in charting a new development path.

This dialogue hosted in partnership with eHealth Africa, Population Services International (PSI), Population Council, and Reach Digital Health takes place at a pivotal moment for global development. In 2025, donor funding has faced unprecedented cuts, with a 17% decline in Official Development Assistance and the near-total withdrawal of the United States from its role as the world’s largest aid contributor.

This event builds on the outcome of the Insights Learning Forum (ILF) 2025, hosted by eHealth Africa, where stakeholders called for harmonized digital health strategies, locally driven investment, and stronger domestic resource mobilization. Building on that momentum, the UNGA80 side event will challenge Africa to take bolder and more deliberate steps toward a sustainable future.

Speaking ahead of the UNGA80, Executive Director of eHealth Africa, Atef Fawaz, emphasized the need for Africa to continue demonstrating resilience, sovereignty, and creativity across sectors for a sustainable future.

According to Atef, “This is beyond just conversation. It’s an urgent call to action—a challenge to stakeholders across sectors to take bold steps to deepen collaboration, pool resources, and adopt adaptive strategies to sustain impact.”

He added, “eHealth Africa is excited to champion this critical action with like-minded organizations. This is why we are bringing together industry leaders and think tanks to call for stronger partnerships that put African innovation at the center of sustainable development.”

In his own remark, the President of Population Services International (PSI), Michael Holscher noted that African innovation is transforming health delivery across the continent and beyond. 

He said, “The most powerful solutions are coming from people with lived experience and led by experts who are building systems designed for true health sovereignty.” 

According to Micheal, “Population Services International (PSI) is honored to stand with our partners driving this unstoppable momentum of African ingenuity, advancing progress with or without external aid.”

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Reach Digital Health Debbie Rogers reiterated this  notion saying,  “Africa-led, user-centric solutions are delivering measurable gains across the continent, from frontline services to national platforms. To accelerate this progress, we need deeper collaboration and sustained investment.”

“We are continuously inspired and proud to work alongside many outstanding organisations and ministries to innovate and scale what works, building the next generation of people-centred digital health”, she added. 

As convener of the dialogue, eHealth Africa together with Population Services International (PSI), Population Council, and Reach Digital Health calls on stakeholders across civil society organizations, the private sector, innovators, academia, and governments to support and fund African-led innovation, while ensuring that health and development solutions are nationally owned and community-driven.

About eHealth Africa
eHealth Africa (eHA) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening health systems across Africa through the design and implementation of data-driven solutions. Responding to local health needs, over the past 15 years, eHealth Africa has built a robust tech and operational platform specifically designed to address health delivery challenges. Recognizing the need for collaboration, we have opened up our operational, management, partnership, and technology platforms to others, accelerating the entry and adoption of innovations. By leveraging lessons learned from global successes, we aim to maximize impact and ensure that solutions are well-tailored to every market’s unique market dynamics, making it an ideal entry point for social and economic development initiatives that rely on public health innovations. eHealth Africa’s work spans across 24 African Countries including, Chad, Liberia, Cameroon, Tanzania, Madagascar, Zimbabwe amongst others. For more information, visit www.ehealthafrica.org.

About Population Services International (PSI)

Population Services International (PSI) is a network of locally-led, globally-connected organizations that are passionate about making it easier for people to lead healthier lives. Together with partners, we transform health by tackling the root causes preventing people and their communities from achieving and maintaining good, quality, and affordable health. Over the last 50 years, PSI  have pushed boundaries, broken taboos, set trends, and developed innovative solutions to complex global health challenges. Building on our strong foundation in sexual and reproductive health and social marketing, we have expanded our reach across sectors.  Today, PSI continues to  address diverse factors that affect people’s health and lives from the effects of climate change to urbanization, and limited livelihood opportunities  and leverage our social marketing roots to scale social business models and reach people in new, impactful ways. For more information, visit https://www.psi.org/.

About Population Council

The Population Council is a leading research organization dedicated to building an equitable and sustainable world that enhances the health and well-being of current and future generations. We generate ideas, produce evidence, and design solutions to improve the lives of underserved populations around the world. For more information, visit https://popcouncil.org/.

About Reach Digital Health 

Reach Digital Health is a leading non-profit organisation that designs, delivers, and scales digital health solutions. These solutions leverage communication technology to connect individuals, communities, and health systems to personalised healthcare, support, and information. Our work spans maternal, sexual, reproductive, and mental health as well as youth-friendly services, reaching over 15 million people across Africa. We co-create solutions with governments to ensure they are locally relevant, evidence-based, sustainable, and that health systems are strengthened. We aim to reach 50 million individuals and support 500,000 health workers across eight countries by 2030, ensuring equitable and sustainable healthcare for all. For more information, visit https://www.reachdigitalhealth.org/.

For Media inquiries, Contact: Amarachi Gift Mbagwu, Communications Manager via amarachi.mbagwu@ehealthafrica.org