KONO, Sierra Leone — Isata Dumbuya, director of nursing and midwifery for Partners In Health (PIH) Sierra Leone’s reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) program, has been named one of 16 global leaders on TIME’s 2026 Women of the Year list for her transformative advocacy and leadership in equitable maternal health care.
The annual list, which highlights women driving systemic change worldwide, appears in the February 27 print issue of TIME and is available online now.
Dumbuya, a native of Kono District, returned to Sierra Leone in 2018 after 25 years serving as a nurse, midwife, and public health specialist with the United Kingdom’s National Health Service.
She joined PIH to help build high-quality maternal care in a country that has long faced one of the world’s highest maternal mortality burdens. At the time of her return, Sierra Leone’s maternal mortality ratio was more than 40 times higher than in the UK, with women facing a lifetime risk of dying in childbirth as high as 1 in 74. Staff at local facilities had grown desensitized to frequent preventable deaths, and many women feared seeking hospital care, often arriving in critical condition after delayed journeys.
As head of nursing and midwifery at PIH’s flagship Paul E. Farmer Maternal Center of Excellence (MCOE) at Koidu Government Hospital, Dumbuya has led clinical and programmatic efforts to reverse these trends.
She has trained staff to better detect and treat complications, strengthened community outreach across Kono’s 14 chiefdoms, collaborated with traditional birth attendants, and built trust in formal health services. Her work has contributed to a 73% increase in the number of mothers receiving care at PIH-supported facilities in Sierra Leone.
The MCOE itself, a 120-bed state-of-the-art facility developed in partnership with Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Build Health International, officially opened its doors on February 14, 2026, just two weeks ago. It features the country’s first neonatal intensive care unit (with 39 beds), three operating theaters, a piped oxygen system (the first outside Freetown), and healing spaces designed around women’s dignity and needs. The center serves as a referral hub for high-risk pregnancies and obstetric emergencies while training the next generation of Sierra Leonean health workers. Within its first 24 hours, it welcomed 27 patients, and Dumbuya has expressed excitement over the arrival of the facility’s first babies.
“Being acknowledged for work that is genuinely a team effort at Partners In Health is an honour,” Dumbuya said in a statement. “I am incredibly honoured and appreciative to share this spotlight with my thousands of colleagues, particularly the brave doctors, nurses, and midwives in Sierra Leone whose unwavering dedication forms the cornerstone of our work. Together, we are demonstrating that health equity can be a life-saving reality and is not just a pipe dream.”
Her recognition comes as Sierra Leone continues to make progress: the maternal mortality ratio fell to 354 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 (down from 1,506 in 2000), though challenges remain. Dumbuya’s leadership, from early community outreach in 2019 to intensive staff training ahead of the MCOE opening, underscores the power of sustained, locally driven investment in maternal health.
By naming Dumbuya to its 2026 list, TIME places her alongside other international trailblazers advancing opportunity, justice, and health for marginalized communities. Her story highlights not only individual dedication but the collective impact of teams working to ensure no woman dies giving birth simply because of where she lives. The MCOE, now operational, stands as a tangible symbol of that vision taking root in rural Sierra Leone.
