Midwives Visa Crisis: 7 Critical Issues Behind Denying Frontline Maternal Health Leaders Access to ICM Lisbon Congress

## Introduction

## Background of the Midwives Visa Crisis and the ICM Lisbon Congress The 2026 International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) congress in Lisbon, Portugal, was scheduled to be a landmark global gathering of policymakers, donors, UN agencies and frontline health workers to develop actionable strategies to reduce preventable maternal and newborn deaths worldwide. However, the midwives visa crisis erupted days before the event, when last-minute visa refusals barred dozens of leading midwives from Africa and Asia – the regions bearing the highest burden of childbirth deaths – from attending. Midwives visa rejections targeted delegates from Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, India and Indonesia, all countries with some of the highest maternal mortality ratios globally. ICM advisor Kate Stringer noted that these midwives are not just frontline workers, but leading researchers and professors who develop context-specific solutions for the regions most affected by the childbirth crisis. Their exclusion, she added, defies logic and perpetuates systemic barriers to equitable participation in global health decision-making, undermining the core purpose of the midwives summit visas process designed to include voices from the Global South.

## Impact of Midwives Visa Rejections on Global Maternal Health Goals The midwives denied visas include some of the most innovative frontline health workers developing proven solutions to reduce maternal deaths in low-resource settings. One of the most prominent cases is Ugandan midwife Harriet Akello, who leads a lifesaving initiative with Mother Health International in a remote post-conflict region near the South Sudan border, 95km from the nearest referral hospital. Akello’s team has developed a midwifery model of care that aligns with WHO standards and has been recognized by the global health community as a scalable solution for overwhelmed public maternity systems. She was scheduled to present her work at the ICM Lisbon midwives congress, but was denied a visa despite having traveled to Sweden for work in the past year without overstaying her permitted duration. Akello described the rejection as “gutted and insulting”, noting that global policymakers are in Lisbon discussing solutions while she is stuck in Uganda trying to convince an embassy of her right to travel. Her case highlights how midwives visa restrictions deprive global health forums of the very experts who have proven, context-specific solutions to the maternal deaths crisis.

## Colonial Bias and Gender Inequity Behind Midwives Visa Rejections Global midwives leaders and health researchers have framed the midwives visa crisis as a clear case of gender inequity and colonial bias, noting that male government officials from affected countries were granted visas to attend the ICM congress while leading female midwives were denied. For example, a male Bangladeshi government official was allowed to travel to Lisbon to pledge 25,000 additional midwives for the country, while two Bangladeshi midwifery union leaders who have spent decades advancing midwifery standards in the country were denied visas. ICM advisor Kate Stringer called the situation “gender inequity laid bare”, noting that a mother dies every two minutes from pregnancy or birth-related complications, and the exclusion of the very experts working to solve this crisis is a matter of life and death. Alison Perry, a researcher at Imperial College London, added that the rejection of a Ugandan midwife she collaborates with represents “overt discrimination against equitable participation in international conferences”. These patterns of midwives visa rejections reflect broader systemic barriers that prevent experts from the Global South from shaping global health policy.

## Global Reactions and Ongoing Midwives Visa Appeals The midwives visa crisis has triggered widespread condemnation from global health organizations and affected delegates, with urgent midwives visa appeals filed for all rejected applicants. Representatives from affected countries have called on Portuguese authorities to review the rejected applications, noting that Schengen visa rules include provisions for humanitarian and public health exceptions that should apply to these cases. Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that visa assessments are conducted “rigorously, objectively and factually” in line with Schengen regulations, but critics argue that the last-minute nature of the rejections and the lack of transparent justification for denials suggest discriminatory practices. Dr Arthur Munkana from the Democratic Republic of the Congo voiced frustration that four midwives from his country, who are leading efforts to reduce maternal deaths in a country with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, were denied visas while he was granted entry. Ongoing midwives visa appeals are calling for a review of visa processes for global health conferences to ensure that frontline health workers from low- and middle-income countries are not systematically excluded from shaping global maternal health policy.