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The Independent has partnered with WaterAid to mark Earth Day on Wednesday 22 April, directing support toward the charity’s “Time to Deliver” campaign, which calls on world leaders to guarantee clean water and sanitation in every health centre worldwide, ahead of the UN Water Conference in December.

The Independent has donated £20,000 in advertising to help amplify WaterAid’s message and reach new audiences to support all of the organisation’s work.

Every two seconds, a woman gives birth in a health facility without clean water, a functioning toilet or basic hygiene – conditions that WaterAid's research links to 36 deaths from sepsis a day across sub-Saharan Africa. Women who develop the condition are 144 times more likely to die than those in Britain, Europe or North America.

At the Diah Clinic in Liberia, midwives walk to a nearby pond to collect water before they can begin caring for a woman in labour. Shanette Khauala, a midwife who has worked there for three years, says the time it takes can be critical.

She says: “If the patient is brought here in labour, the time it takes me to go and look for water, she might deliver and she would need my attention immediately, but I’m not around because I am looking for water. That could cause significant harm to either the mum or the baby. I’m looking for water, so she could even bleed to death.”

In 10 countries surveyed by WaterAid, 78 per cent of maternity wards had no functioning toilet and 66 per cent lacked clean water and soap for handwashing. Three in four births across sub-Saharan Africa take place in such conditions. The charity estimates that targeted investment in water and hygiene across healthcare settings could halve cases of maternal sepsis.

Areas in sub-Saharan African lacking basic sanitation in maternity wards ( WaterAid )

The Independent's Rethinking Global Aid project has been tracking cuts to aid budgets across the globe, which is putting extra pressure on organisations like WaterAid. The UK’s overseas spending on water and sanitation has fallen from £206.5m in 2018 to £80m in 2024, with further cuts expected.

Chris Stevenson, international editor at The Independent, said the collaboration had reinforced “how vital” the work is. “We’re proud to work with WaterAid... and we hope this contribution of advertising support will strengthen its campaigning and fundraising efforts.”

Jennie York, WaterAid UK executive director of communications and fundraising, called 2026 “a defining year for water”, before adding: “Earth Day is a reminder that everything starts with clean water, from safe births to adapting to climate change.”

Earth Day was created on 22 April 1970 to force environmental issues onto the global agenda and promote conservation.

Sign the WaterAid Time to Deliver petition here

This article has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project