Midwife Neha Mankani Named on TIME100 List for Climate  

The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) is proud to share that Neha Mankani, midwife and ICM’s Humanitarian Engagement and Climate Advisor, has been named to the TIME100 Climate 2025 List. This annual list recognises 100 influential figures whose actions are accelerating the global response to climate change across sectors including business, health, and policy. 

Neha’s selection signals something long understood by midwives and communities worldwide: climate action and sexual and reproductive health are interlinked, and investing in midwives is a practical way to make health services lower-carbon, closer to home, and better prepared for climate shocks. 

“Governments and funders must direct climate finance into frontline health systems, especially maternal and newborn care.” — Neha Mankani 

As a midwife based in Pakistan, Neha has led and supported emergency response in flood- and heat-affected communities while advocating for climate-conscious health planning at national and global levels. Her work centres the realities of women, gender diverse people and newborns, and the practical solutions communities are already using to keep care going when extreme weather disrupts transport, power, and supply chains. 

Why this recognition matters 

Midwives can provide up to 90% of essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health (SRMNAH) services. Their approach is community-based and resource-efficient, reducing unnecessary interventions and travel to distant facilities, which in turn lowers costs and carbon emissions. Continuity of midwife care also supports safer births and reduces waste from single-use items and avoidable procedures, which is especially critical in climate-affected settings. 

Neha puts it plainly: 

“The midwifery model of care is one of the most climate-conscious, cost-effective solutions available, yet it is absent from most climate funding frameworks. Investing here is not only an equity issue but also an economic imperative.” 

Including a trailblazing midwife in the TIME100 Climate finally recognises midwifery as the climate solution it is, and highlights the importance of bringing health—especially SRMNAH—into climate strategies and financing. It also brings midwives into the public discourse and makes clear that they must be included in preparedness planning and response, so health systems are well-equipped to face climate shocks while continuing essential services like caring for pregnant women, providing  contraception, safe birth and postnatal support to women and newborns — reaching audiences who may not yet realise how midwifery, SRMNAH and climate change are interlinked. 

Elevating community solutions 

Neha’s optimism is grounded in the ingenuity she witnesses every day: 

“What gives me hope is the creativity and resilience of frontline communities, especially women, who continue to innovate despite being excluded from climate decision-making. Whether it’s powering clinics with solar or navigating floods with boat ambulances, they show us what’s possible.” 

Her message to global leaders is direct: 

“The climate crisis is also a maternal and newborn health crisis, and ignoring this link comes at enormous human and economic cost. True climate justice means ensuring that finance and decision-making flow to the people and systems on the frontlines, not remain trapped in distant boardrooms.” 

About Neha Mankani 

Neha Mankani is a midwife and global health practitioner from Pakistan. She has extensive experience across clinical practice, programme delivery and advocacy in low‑resourced and crisis‑affected settings, including flood‑ and heat‑affected communities. Her work focuses on keeping sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health (SRMNAH) services going during emergencies and on advancing practical, climate‑conscious approaches to care. 

She is the Founder of the Mama Baby Fund, a registered non-profit organisation for maternal and neonatal healthcare in Pakistan, on a mission to increase equity in access to maternal and neonatal healthcare by providing safe, appropriate and respectful care, and by reducing financial and structural barriers families experience during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. Her contributions have been recognised with inclusion on the BBC 100 Women list (2023), the Woman of Courage Award (US Embassy, 2023), and the Heroines of Health Award (Women in Global Health, 2021). She also serves as Humanitarian Engagement and Climate Advisor to the International Confederation of Midwives.

Neha holds an Masters Degree in Public Health (Reproductive and Family Health) from Columbia University, a BA in Social Sciences from Lahore University of Management Sciences, and a Diploma in Community Midwifery.

Congratulations, Neha, from ICM and midwives all over the world. We are proud of you and the work you do!