Africa Forward? Not Without Us
Civil society demands people-centred investments in health on eve of Nairobi Summit
African and French civil society organisations launch a statement ahead of the Africa Forward Summit, calling on Heads of State to place equity, and community-led priorities at the heart of the Nairobi Declaration and carry that agenda forward to the G7.
NAIROBI, 10 May 2026 — On the eve of the Africa Forward Summit, a coalition of community and civil society organisations from across Africa and France launched a joint statement calling on Heads of States and government representatives convening in Nairobi to prioritise investments in health, and ensure that the partnerships are built on equity, country leadership, and the lived realities of the people health systems are meant to serve.
The statement, “No Health Sovereignty Without People-Centred Partnerships,” comes as the Africa Forward Summit co-hosted by President William Ruto and President Emmanuel Macron opens in Nairobi on 11 and 12 May. The hosts have named resilient health systems as one of the themes of the Summit and its outcome document, the Nairobi Declaration, will feed into the G7 Heads of State Summit in Évian in June.
“You cannot drive Africa forward without strengthening health systems, and you cannot speak about health without putting people at the centre,” said Rosemary Mburu (Executive Director, WACI Health), speaking at today’s briefing, “Sovereignty is a pathway with milestones, and solidarity means partners journeying with African nations along that pathway guided by national priorities, not isolation.”
Signed by over 100 civil society organisations from 32 countries, the statement makes three central asks of leaders gathered in Nairobi:
- Treat health as a strategic driver of security and shared prosperity, invest in the people who deliver care, and ensure innovations reach vulnerable communities.
- In the context of global health architecture reform, lead with national priorities and center the perspectives of communities and civil society.
- Optimise financing for global health security by ensuring that external financing catalyses sovereignty, including by strengthening local and regional manufacturing, and by increasing domestic investments in health.
The Summit lands at a moment when the partnership model that underpinned two decades of progress against HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria is at risk. The Global Fund’s 8th Replenishment in 2025 secured US$12.64 billion, falling short of the US$18 billion target. The partnership has saved 70 million lives over the last two decades and this gap threatens the progress we are making toward ending these epidemics.
The shortfall is also a reflection of a broader trend of funding cuts for health and development. As evidenced by the impact of the U.S. funding cuts in 2025, it is communities that pay the price with disrupted treatments, stockouts, and rising out-of-pocket costs for the poorest patients as well as the collapsing contracts of already-underpaid community health workers.
Resilient health systems start with the people. The question facing leaders in Nairobi is not whether global solidarity still matters, but whether the next generation of cooperation for health will be designed in partnership with communities, reflecting lived realities.
“African parliaments are watching this Summit closely. We want to see results translate into functioning clinics and mothers who survive childbirth,” said Hon. Modou Lamin B. Bah, Member of the National Assembly of The Gambia and Chairman of the Network of African Parliamentary Committees on Health (NEAPACOH). “Sovereignty cannot be declared from a podium. It has to be legislated and accounted for at home.”
The statement reaffirms that health sovereignty and global solidarity are two expressions of the same commitment to a healthier, safer world. Sovereignty is built through domestic investments that center people’s needs and external financing that is aligned with those national priorities.
“When our African leaders commit to sovereignty and partners such as France commit to equitable partnerships, communities are not looking for new language. We are looking for a real change in our daily lives,” added Carol Nawina Nyirenda, executive director of the Community Initiative for Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria (CITAMplus) based in Zambia, “The true test for the Summit is simple – will a woman in our community still have to choose between her health and her livelihood?”
Civil society partners also noted that the statement builds on a series of regional and global processes in recent months, including the One Health Summit in Lyon in April, the World Health Summit Regional Meeting in Nairobi, the C7 Global Health Working Group declaration to the G7, and the Africa Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda adopted at the African Union Summit.
The statement is being shared with African and French delegations at the Summit and will travel into the broader G7 process leading to the June Heads of State Summit.
The full statement and signatory list are here.
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About WACI Health:
WACI Health is an African regional advocacy organization that champions an end to life-threatening epidemics and advances health for all, shaping political priorities through an effective, evidence-driven Pan-African civil society voice and action.
WACI Health hosts or co-hosts networks of communities and civil society, including the African Civil Society Platform for Health (CiSPHA), the Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN) Africa, the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for UHC2030 (CSEM), Africa free of HIV infections (AfNHi), and Youth Leaders for Health (YL4H). It is also playing a convening role in the global health reform dialogues as a member of the HEAR CSO (Health Architecture Reimagined Civil Society Organizations) Consortium.
Media contact:
Carthi Mannikarottu
Communications Lead, WACI Health
carthi@wacihealth.org
