Every year 303,000 mothers and 2.7 million newborn infants die annually around the time of childbirth and that many more are affected by preventable illness. 2.6 million babies are stillborn each year. The World Health Organization has identified quality of care for women and children as a priority in addressing preventable maternal and child mortality and states a vision that ‘Every woman, child and adolescent should receive quality care throughout the continuum of their life course and care’. In support to this vision, ten countries supported by WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA, and in collaboration with partners, joined forces and established the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal Newborn and Child Health, in February 2017. The Network brings global and regional coordination to quality of care, for countries to share their best practices and to catalyze change, through coordinated evidence-based actions and joint learning.