Advocating for clean air with Black mothers and children

Key information:

• Partner: Global Child and Maternal Health
• Duration: 12 months
• Programme: Health effects of air pollution

What are we doing together?

Air pollution affects us all but harms certain groups more than others. Black women experience alarming maternal health disparities in the UK and are disproportionately affected by air pollution. Yet Black people are often underrepresented in air pollution conversations. This must change. We want the health of Black mothers and children, and Black communities more broadly, to be at the centre of this important debate.  

Global Child and Maternal Health (GCMH) is a Black-led organisation with an emerging and powerful voice in the air pollution debate. We’re partnering with GCMH to advance policies that will improve Black maternal health and give Black children a healthy start in life.  

Working closely with Black women, GCMH will raise greater awareness of how air pollution intersects with inequality and racism. It will bring together activists and campaigners to highlight the disproportionate impact of air pollution on marginalised communities and to advocate for solutions to address this problem. Our funding will enable GCMH to:    

• Develop and deliver workshops for local government, charities and health practitioners, educating them on health equity and air pollution so they can apply this knowledge in their work. 

• Increase advocacy and public speaking opportunities to push for equity in air quality policy. 

• Run a Black Child Clean Air conference in June 2025 to highlight the importance of clean air in marginalised communities. 

This work responds to the findings of our previous partnership with GCMH and its founder Agnes Agyepong. In 2022, we funded GCMH (then Black Maternal Global Health) to gather Black mothers’ perspectives on air pollution. The resulting ‘Black Child Clean Air Report’ made several recommendations. One of which was that policymakers and healthcare professionals should involve Black women in designing clean air solutions that work for Black families.   

Aim of the partnership 

We’re funding this work because we want to strengthen the case for equity in air quality policy. We also want to learn more about how to successfully involve and represent Black communities on the issue of clean air. Amplifying Black voices could help to create the conditions for change needed to stop air pollution disproportionately damaging health in racially minoritised communities.  

By the end of the partnership, GCMH will have: 

• Created a blueprint for workshops which encourage local authorities and healthcare professionals to introduce new practice and policies supporting communities most at risk from air pollution. 

• A list of priority stakeholders to work with to achieve its long-term goals. 

• The Black Child Clean Air conference, creating a space to bring together advocates for race equity and clean air. 

We will take what we learn and apply it in our future work. We will also share these findings with others in London and beyond.  

Connection to our strategy 

Our programme works with communities most affected by air pollution to make sure solutions are equitable and work for them.  

Racially minoritised people in the UK experience greater exposure to air pollution and their health is more at risk from its effects. This already unjust situation is made worse by the fact that people from racially minoritised communities often have less power to change or advocate for improvements to their circumstances. This is especially true of pregnant people, babies and children. Black women in the UK face higher risks during pregnancy because of prejudice and structural inequalities. High levels of air pollution exacerbate these risks. This partnership will help to highlight these inequalities, address this imbalance of power and improve health.