Mobilizing Youth and Partners for Maternal and Newborn Health
Maternal and newborn health requires more than clinical care. It also requires public awareness, community ownership, youth participation, and partners who are willing to use their platforms to support lifesaving change. In Tanzania, many newborns, especially those born too soon, continue to face preventable risks because hospitals lack adequate equipment, families lack support, and public attention to newborn survival remains limited.
Party for a Cause is DMF's annual nightlife and music based awareness and fundraising campaign held in Dar es Salaam. The campaign uses music, entertainment, and youth culture to mobilize young people, artists, corporate partners, and the wider public around maternal and newborn health. Hosted at Elements Night Club, the event creates a familiar and accessible space where people can gather, celebrate, and contribute to a cause that directly supports maternal and newborn care. On the night of the event, every purchase at the venue, from a soda or a snack to anything else guests order, goes straight into the fundraising basket. Before each edition, artists undergo capacity building sessions to understand the importance of the cause they are stepping onto the stage for, and also join site visits to hospitals, where they see firsthand the realities facing mothers and newborns.
The campaign brings together popular Tanzanian artists and public figures to raise visibility for the challenges facing mothers and newborns and the hospitals that care for them. Previous editions have featured artists including Whozu, Shetta, GNako, and Barnaba, with proceeds directed toward supporting maternal and newborn care at Sinza Palestina Hospital in Dar es Salaam so as to reduce referrals to upper facility level including the Muhimbili National Hospital. Each edition of Party for a Cause regularly raises between $10,000 and $15,000 in a single night, turning everyday purchases at the venue into direct support for maternal and newborn care. Across digital platforms, the campaign has generated more than 2 million social media engagements, extending awareness far beyond the club and into the feeds, conversations, and networks of young Tanzanians.
Through Party for a Cause, DMF transforms entertainment into a platform for public health action. The campaign allows young people and partners to participate in maternal and newborn health in a way that feels accessible, engaging, and rooted in the spaces where they already gather. It also helps build a culture of giving, where artists, brands, businesses, and citizens can contribute to improving care for mothers, newborns, and families.
Party for a Cause is part of DMF's broader flagship awareness and fundraising strategy, which uses sports, music, fashion, and culture to reach audiences beyond hospitals and policy spaces. Through connecting nightlife with newborn survival, DMF expands the maternal and child health movement and shows that every platform can be used to protect the lives of babies born too soon.
To partner with us or support future editions, please email us at partnerships@dorismollelfoundation.org.