🏃🏾♂️ 5:24. MY FASTEST PACE OF 2026. AND IT WAS FOR MOTHERS.
Today, Saturday, 20 June 2026, I joined hundreds of runners in Luanda for a 10-kilometre run in support of fistula awareness and maternal health, organised in partnership with UNFPA Angola.
Several colleagues from the diplomatic community ran alongside me. There is something powerful about diplomats stepping out of suits and into running shoes for a cause that affects some of the most vulnerable among us.
Obstetric fistula remains one of the world’s most devastating yet preventable maternal health conditions. It disproportionately affects women with limited access to quality healthcare, often leaving them isolated when what they need most is treatment, dignity, and support.
My pace today was 5:24 per kilometre, the fastest I have run all year. Perhaps that is what happens when you run for something bigger than yourself.
Maternal health is not an abstract policy discussion. It is about whether a woman survives childbirth with her dignity intact. It is about whether our health systems reach those who need them most. Today’s run was a small but meaningful contribution to keeping that conversation alive in Angola and across our region.
I am grateful to UNFPA Angola for organising this important initiative and for its continued commitment to maternal and reproductive health. I am equally grateful to every runner, diplomat, health worker, and Luandan who showed up in support of this cause.
Here’s to healthier mothers, stronger health systems, and perhaps a few faster paces along the way. 🇦🇴🇿🇲💚
-Rev. Dr. Elias Munshya
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Zambia to the Republic of Angola
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