Midwifes, health works and mothers from across Africa and the UK have held a protest outside the World Health Assembly in Geneva to end the scandal of women giving birth in dangerous clinics and maternity wards without clean water.
Frontline health workers and mothers from Tanzania, Nigeria, Morocco, Ghana and the UK beat drums, waved blue fabric and held placards calling on world leaders to take action.
Silviana Swallo, a midwife from Tanzania said: "I can't speak about midwifery care without adequate water supply. Water is health for mothers, newborns and health care providers." Her colleague Christina Mhando, WaterAid Tanzania's head of policy, said: "The solutions exist, they're simple and cheap. We just need them to listen and act."
The protest was organised as part of WaterAid's "Time to Deliver" campaign, which The Independent has worked on, that calls on world leaders to use the upcoming United Nations (UN) Water Conference in December to ensure that every health centre worldwide has clean water, decent sanitation and proper hygiene facilities.
Source: The Independent, 19 May 2026
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment