Second Annual Celebration of Global Handwashing Day

Transcription

1 JULY 2009 MARCH 2010 FOCUS ON... Second Annual Celebration of Global Handwashing Day On 15 October 2009, more than 85 countries celebrated Global Handwashing Day. Over 200 million children, teachers, parents, doctors, nurses, government and civil society representatives, religious leaders, and celebrities in six continents washed hands with soap to remind the world that Clean Hands Save Lives! Global Handwashing Day poster in Angola. (Image by Government of Angola/UNICEF/WHO.) Celebrations worldwide were colorful, lively and extremely bubbly, as the following highlights show. Angola In Angola, more than 12,500 children were exposed to health and hygiene promotion messages about handwashing with soap and de-worming. Benin Benin celebrated Global Handwashing Day s official event at the principal maternity center at Cotonou, with the participation of some 500 mothers, 500 children and government health authorities. Public awareness campaigns were launched in 225 schools, 101 hospitals, and 21 markets in the country. Children celebrate Global Handwashing Day in East Chad. (Image by Intermon-Oxfam) Chad In Chad, several communities celebrated Global Handwashing Day with activities dedicated to children. Theatre plays, poems, songs and quizzes were used to celebrate the day in an engaging and entertaining way for kids. India In India a new Guinness World Record for highest number of children washing hands with soap was achieved. Celebrations of Global Handwashing Day took place on October 27, due to the Diwali holiday. Indonesia In Indonesia, Government dignitaries mingled with 500 students and 150 teachers in rallies around Jakarta. Different groups of children stopped in each post to perform handwashing with soap. While other kids distributed stickers, posters, and leaflets on the proper steps for handwashing, and on H1N1 virus prevention. Mosques, traditional markets, train stations, street food vendors area were among these posts. Ministry of Health s Director, Mrs. Yevide, and UNICEF representative wash hands with soap at official event in Cotonou, Benin. (Image by PPPHW-Benin) Global Handwashing Day celebrations in Sri Ram Baidak Sikhyasrama school, India. (Image by Udyama). Clean hands rally in Jakarta. (Image by PPPHW Indonesia)

2 Iraq In Iraq, more than 50,000 students participated in Global Handwashing Day events. In some areas, kits, posters, and leaflets with messages on proper handwashing practices were distributed, aiming at improving students knowledge on basic hygiene habits. The third annual celebration of Global Handwashing Day will take place on October 15, Global Handwashing Day celebrations in Lima, Peru. (Image by WSP) Schoolchildren celebrate Global Handwashing Day in Baghdad, Iraq. (Image by Al Noor Humanitarian Organization.) Japan In Japan, the renowned Japanese dancer Kaiji Moriyama choreographed a dance for a public service announcement designed to teach children the principles of good handwashing. The dance shows children how to wash palms, nails, fingers and wrists in just 20 seconds. By following some easy steps, children learn proper handwashing while having fun. Children celebrate Global Handwashing Day in Mosselbay, South Africa. (Image by UASA) United Kingdom Senegal In Senegal, celebrations had the support of the Great Caliph of the Mouride Community, Serigne Mouhammadou Lamine Bara Mbacké. Senegal s most influential religious authority washed his hands in support of Global Handwashing Day. In the United Kingdom, the Golden Poo Awards recognized the work of Hygiene and Sanitation champions around the globe. Mrs. Mary Swai and Mrs. Rebecca Budimu, from Tanzania, were awarded with the Hygiene Champion Award. Global Handwashing Day characters welcome attendees to the award ceremony of the Golden Poo Awards in London. Global Handwashing Day celebrations. (Image by UNICEF Japan). Peru Peru celebrated Global Handwashing Week from October 12-18, through a series of promotional efforts driven by the Ministry of Education, and supported by the Ministry of Health. On 15 October, a lantern parade took place in the main plazas of 10 regions. Events included the launch to the sky of balloons in the shape of soap bubbles. Around 50,000 people, 300 schools and 30 districts altogether took part in these colorful celebrations. Events in Senegal included in St Louis, Thiaroye, and Touba, with the participation of potical, social, and religious leaders, communicators, and representatives of the private sector. (Image by WSP) See more images of Global Handwashing Day celebrations on: handwashingday.org/country2009.asp THANK YOU! South Africa In South Africa more than 13,000 schools and 2,000 medical centers celebrated Global Handwashing Day. Activities included drawing competitions, games, songs, and glo-germ testings. 2 The Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap would like to thank all participants and organizations around the globe for their efforts and precious contributions to making Global Handwashing Day a great success. We look forward to another successful Global Handwashing Day on October 15, 2010!

3 UPDATES FROM COUNTRY PROGRAMS AFRICA UPDATES Ethiopia In the Amhara region, the USAID-funded Learning by Doing Program for Hygiene and Sanitation at scale is being led by AED s Hygiene Improvement Project (HIP), in partnership with the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) and the Amhara Regional Bureaus of Health and Education. The initiative gives response to the federal request for assistance in implementing the 2006 National Hygiene and Sanitation Strategy and Protocol, and it has been supported by a myriad of development partners who endorse a shared action agenda towards universal behavior change in hygiene and sanitation. As part of the training to parents and teachers, workshop participants designed their own tippy-tap yoke, a multi-bottle tippy tap station for school latrines. The Learning by Doing Program incorporates community-led total sanitation approaches, coupled with innovative behavior change techniques and a focus on the role of enabling technologies in improving hygiene and sanitation behaviors. The approach - documented in the Woreda Resource Book - outlines a 13-step process for Community- Led Total Behavior Change in Hygiene and Sanitation. One key step in the process is Institutional WASH, which includes WASH Friendly Schools as part of the community ignition and action. Currently, the program is focused on the Amhara region with a population of 20 million and over 3,000 primary schools -, and it offers tools relevant to other regions of Ethiopia and beyond. Two key lessons learned by HIP and WSP teams include: LESSON #1: SUPPORT AN EXISTING GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE By embedding the Community-Led Total Behavior Change in Hygiene and Sanitation Program and its WASH Friendly Schools Initiative within the Ethiopian Government s Maternal and Child Health Program, the project is better positioned to achieve scale and be sustained after intensive external inputs end. HIP and WSP provide targeted technical assistance in the development of materials, training and pilot activities. LESSON #2: INVOLVE PARENTS As in many places, parents in Ethiopia are literally the owners of schools, often building them with their own hands. During the pilot activities of the initiative, a hands-on, community-led WASH training was tested at a few schools. Parents, teachers and student leaders were brought together to learn key WASH information, technologies and WASH improvement techniques. Together with the district administrators, joint plans were forged while harnessing the unique skills and contribution of each group. In the pilot trainings, parents led the group in solving the handwashing challenge outside latrines by designing a multiple tap handwashing station they dubbed the Tippy Tap Yoke. The parents used their own farming tools and expertise to improve the performance of the tippy-taps, and they took Children show with pride their WASH Friendly Schools certificate. 3 ownership of the project, considering together issues like how the tippy-taps would be maintained. HIP and WSP are hopeful that with this high-level of community involvement and ownership, the students will enjoy continuous improvement in hygiene and sanitation practices at the school, and themselves become change agents for WASH improvement in their households and communities. Go to page/485 for access to training and other materials developed under this program. Julia Rosenbaum, AED/HIP jrosenba@aed.org To seal the school commitment to WASH Friendly School, workshop participants invited the school principal to be the first to use the new tippy tap yoke. He committed to maintaining the tippy-taps outside school latrines, and more generally to achieving a WASH Friendly school.

4 Ghana In the second half of 2009, the Ghana program focused on advocacy, training to key stakeholders and general publicity activities. ADVOCACY Handwashing activities were incorporated in high-level programs to capture the attention of politicians and top management officials. In this regard, handwashing stations were set up at the First Ghana Water Forum where the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, together with the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development washed their hands in public to demonstrate the need to wash hands at the critical times. Also - on World Toilet Day, November 19 - two ministers from local governments and water resources washed hands after squatting in the toilet. Handwashing materials were also given to top officials, and there were interactions with traditional and religious leaders to involve them in handwashing promotion. Artisans workshop: one participant shows his design of a simple handwashing facility made with a plastic bottle. SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH Handwashing with soap promotion was integrated in several community activities like festivals, churches, clean up campaigns and community meetings. These activities were supported by the information services department, Peace Corps and NGOs. In schools, orientation was given through a directive by the director general of Ghana Education Services. The youth and children s forum on handwashing was celebrated as side event of the first Ghana Water Forum. Senegal Senegal s handwashing with Soap project made substantial headway in the second half of COMMUNICATING HANDWASHING An integrated communications campaign on handwashing with soap was launched in eight intervention areas, including Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack, Louga, Thies, Ziguinchor, and Saint Louis. The campaign consists of interpersonal communications (IPC), direct consumer contact (DCC), and mass media actions. To date, 149,000 women and children have been reached through IPC and 104,000 through DCC. The communications activities are having significant reach and impact, according to fieldworkers, who report that the mass media campaign has opened household doors for them. While the campaign initially targeted only mothers and caretakers of children under five and children between 5-13, reports from fieldworkers reveal a pattern showing that men are very interested by the promotion of handwashing with soap, and that they have invited themselves to participate in discussions and to commit themselves and their families to handwashing with soap at critical junctures. Benin s Minister of Health, Dr. Issifou Takpara, washes hands with soap at the inauguration event of the PPPHW in Benin. TRAINING AND ORIENTATION In collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation, the National School Health Education Program, and Ghana s Health Service, some 500 teachers and health workers received orientation on handwashing with soap in connection with the prevention of the spread of the pandemic flu (H1N1). Likewise, 80 latrine artisans were trained in handwashing promotion, and a design competition of latrine handwashing facilities was celebrated, so as to foster the construction of latrines in households, together with handwashing facilities. Teachers in basic schools were trained to be able to integrate handwashing with soap in their curriculum. However, while the national handwashing program makes progress, financial constraints are making it very difficult to reach out to the entire country with some of the activities. Upcoming activities in Ghana include orientation training for the Press Corps WATSAN Network - who focus and report extensively on water, sanitation and hygiene issues - as well as an assessment exercise of the handwashing program, accompanied by new collaborations with NGOs, Schools and development partners to consolidate ongoing activities. Theodora Adomako Adjei, PPPHW Coordinator in Ghana. adomakoadjeit@yahoo.com 4 Fieldworkers in Senegal highlight the remarkable interest of men in the promotion of handwashing with soap. SUSTAINABILITY In 2009, the Ministry of Health increased exponentially its participation in the national handwashing initiative, including acting as host for PPPHW Steering Committee meetings and organizing national celebrations marking the second Global Handwashing Day. Also, a steering committee was established for reviewing the social and environmental impact of water and sanitation (W&S) projects through PEPAM, a national organization coordinating W&S action for achieving

5 SUSTAINABILITY AND REPLICATION Some foundations for the sustainability of the handwashing program were laid, as the annual budgets for hygiene and sanitation activities were allocated for all 132 districts of the project. Furthermore, Hygiene Week and Global Handwashing Day celebrations in October helped provide a platform for partners and stakeholders to review and celebrate hygiene achievements. As for the private sector, Tarmal Industries launched a soap brand with handwashing messages and logo on packaging, for distribution in selected markets. Global Handwashing Day celebrations in Tanzania (Image by GTZ) the Millennium Development Goals. It aims to incorporate a hygiene component into water and sanitation projects. Moreover, WSP supported a task force from the Ministry of Education to develop a handwashing orientation book for teachers in preparation of the handwashing pilot program at schools. NEXT STEPS In the months to come, the second phase of the communications campaign will be activated in Senegal (using IPC, DCC and mass media), and a series of knowledge products and tools will be elaborated, linked to key findings such as men s interest in handwashing promotion, impact of integrated communications campaign, and the incorporation of the medical sector in handwashing promotion. Tanzania In Tanzania, the Scaling Up Handwashing project seeks to stimulate and sustain women and children to wash their hands with soap at critical times (i.e. before eating, and after defecation). The initiative is targeting women of reproductive age and children between the ages of 6-14 in ten districts. In the second half of 2009, Tanzania s Scaling Up Handwashing communications activities moved from the awakening to the engaging phase, through personal and group meetings. Also, the initiative gained visibility through the distribution of materials, outdoor paintings, and placements in districts covered by the handwashing project. Likewise, a set of guidelines on sanitation and hygiene planning and implementation were distributed to districts for use by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. These guidelines provide a framework for districtlevel implementation with possible activities using the Scaling Up project approaches. Some stakeholders and partners integrated approaches of the project in their interventions: for instance, UNICEF applied them in school sanitation and districts; AED/TMARC project integrated some training and education materials into a pilot program in Morogoro, while SNV, WaterAid, and WSCC integrated some materials into outreach activities. Abdul Razak Badru, Handwashing Coordinator, WSP, Tanzania. abadru@worldbank.org Furthermore, the project will focus on assessing the type, convenience, and preferences of handwashing stations in use in Senegal. In parallel, a monitoring survey ( doer/non-doer ) will be undertaken to study changes in determinants, together with a public relations and advocacy campaign geared towards building partnerships with the medical sector, schools, nutrition program, and plastic manufacturers, among others. Seydou Koita, WSP, Senegal skoita@worldbank.org TANZANIA S SCALING UP HANDWASHING PROJECT IN FIGURES Over 14 million people reached through mass media campaign carried on three radio stations (two national, one regional). 106,000 women and children reached through Interpersonal communications in seven districts. 53,000 people in four districts reached through Direct Consumer Contact activations. 415 front line activators trained and monitored in seven districts. 5

6 ASIA UPDATES Indonesia 20TH WORLD CHILD WELFARE FORUM IN JAKARTA On October 2009 the 20th World Child Welfare Forum was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, and co-hosted by Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation. The theme of the World Forum was Toward a Safer and Better World by Realizing the Rights of the Child, which attracted participants from Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Korea, Myanmar, Philippines, and Singapore. Indonesia s Ministry of Health Handwashing Team. The national PPPHW team made a presentation on Strategic partnership in hygiene and sanitation for children in Indonesia, emphasizing the strategy of handwashing with soap promotion, with the involvement of various stakeholders through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism. Two significant achievements of the partnership in Indonesia mentioned in the presentation include reaching out to target audiences in areas that the Government alone could hardly cover, as well as substantial financial contributions from the private sector, including soap and non-soap producers, as well as non health-related businesses. Ida Rafiqah, Handwashing Coordinator, WSP, Indonesia irafiqah@worldbank.org Philippines MEETING ON SCHOOL HEALTH PROGRAMS IN ASIA In November 2009, delegates from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam convened in Pasig City, Philippines for the Meeting on School Health Programs in Asia, which was hosted by the Philippine NGO Fit for School and supported by InWEnt/Capacity Building International. The Meeting on School Health Programs in Asia provided delegates among whom were representatives of each of the country s Ministries of Health and Education with an opportunity to exchange experiences and discuss common issues and concerns regarding school health programs, including those that promote handwashing with soap. During the two-day meeting, several technical experts delivered presentations on today s global health challenges and on the viability of Meeting participants wash hands. school health programs in addressing them. Delegates were encouraged to field questions over the course of the meeting to make the discussions more pertinent to the situations in their countries. Participants also visited the Bagong Ilog Elementary School where they witnessed first hand how EHCP is implemented. Towards the end of the meeting, participants formed working groups and elaborated how to fortify the school health programs in their respective countries, and expressed their interest in closer collaboration and the development of regional structures for school health. Delegates of the Meeting on Schools Health programs in Asia. HANDY POTTER Handwashing stations made of local earthenware pottery (gerabah) reflected the creativity of Indonesian people on Global Handwashing Day The event took place in West Lombok, Nusa Tenggara, and was attended by local administrative officers, NGOS, donors, school children and their teachers. The event started with a morning walk around the town. (Image by WSP) 6

7 Collaborating with partners is an important element of Fit for School s mission. Its fruitful partnerships with the Department of Education and the League of Philippine Provinces has resulted in the nationwide expansion of EHCP, which presently covers over one million children. This partnership also extended to last year s Global Handwashing Day, when Fit for School and provincial governments contributed to the department s nationwide celebration by facilitating GHD events in five Philippine provinces. Cromwell Bacareza, Fit for School, Philippines cromwell.bacareza@gmail.com GETTING CHILDREN FIT FOR SCHOOL IN PHILIPPINES Vietnam During the last six months, Vietnam s Handwashing Initiative focused primarily on improving the interpersonal communications activities and preparing for the expansion of handwashing with soap activities in 240 new communes. Also, a program was developed to reach children through multiple channels including training activities, television, a children s magazine, and interpersonal communications. SUSTAINABILITY At a regional level, two kickoff workshops aimed at building an enabling environment for the handwashing programs were carried out with Women s Union representatives in almost all 63 provinces. These workshops seek to introduce the Handwashing Initiative and discussing ways that WSP and the central Women s Union can assist the provinces to integrate handwashing with soap into provincial activities. Both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Training were involved in the production of the handwashing program for children and both ministries endorsed it. REPLICATION Training and support to other programs to integrate and replicate handwashing with soap activities into water and sanitation programs continued during the second half of These encompassed six training courses in handwashing with soap in three provinces - Phu Yen, Dak Nong, and Tra Vinh - within the National Target Program; and activities in two provinces - Thai Binh and Hai Duong - included in the Red River Delta Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, a World Bank investment project. Contributed by Nga Kim Nguyen, Handwashing Task Manager, WSP, Vietnam. Nnguyen4@worldbank.org The Philippine NGO Fit for School supports the Department of Education in the implementation of the Essential Health Care Program (EHCP). This program is tailor-made to address the most pressing health issues among the public school population with evidence based interventions: daily handwashing with soap and daily toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste as school activities. The de-worming of all children twice a year in the school is also part of the program. An important cornerstone of the Fit for School approach is the use of the school structure for implementation of an effective health program. The Fit for School concept was recently selected as one of three winning Southern solutions at the Global Health Forum of the Global South-South Development Expo 2009 in Washington DC. NEXT STEPS IN VIETNAM The Handwashing Initiative in Vietnam will dedicate its efforts to the following activities in the next semester: Mainstream the handwashing program for children into the national curriculum of the Ministry of Education and Training, through a workshop that would introduce the program to a larger number of representatives within the education sector. Develop an Integration Toolkit with practical guidelines on how to improve Handwashing with Soap messages into health, food safety, and water and sanitation activities. Harvest lessons learned from the implementation of a large-scale hygiene program from the provincial to central levels and produce a learning product. Provide oversight and technical assistance to the provinces to ensure that activities are carried out with quality, Extend the network of partners and build an enabling environment through kickoff workshops aimed at engaging the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Handwashing Initiative. Roll out mass media for caretaker s program. 7

8 LATIN AMERICA UPDATES Peru The Handwashing Initiative (HWI) in Peru is currently working in 1,900 schools and 917 districts. Thanks to a multi-sector partnership, the program is achieving its objectives both in terms of outreach and sustainability. The real impact of the program will be known during the first semester of OPENING DOORS IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM Peru s program is led by the Education sector, and supported by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Women and the Water and Sanitation sector. The methodology and tools developed by the HWI in coordination with the Ministry of Education to promote behavioral change in handwashing with soap have become a part of the national policy, implying that all schools in Peru will be benefiting from it by Already by the end of 2009, 12,000 teachers had been trained and were working with children at 1,900 elementary schools in rural and peri-urban areas. PARTNERS TO REACH, PARTNERS TO CHANGE The fight against children malnutrition is a top national priority, and the main social programs are targeting this key indicator of poverty. In March 2009, the HWI launched a partnership-building strategy aiming at joining regional partners in their efforts to reduce children malnutrition rates in each region. Through the design of an impact evaluation program, the Handwashing Initiative is measuring children s cognitive development, hemoglobin in blood samples, weight, height, as well as head and arm circumference over a three-year process. This information will be very valuable to monitor the impact of the program and represents an opportunity for partners in the field Thanks to the regional partnerships, the Handwashing Initiative has had the following achievements during the last semester of 2009: The HWI methodology has become an integral part of regional policies in 5 regions, which implies additional funding being channelled towards hygiene promotion processes. 800 additional local teachers and community agents have been trained and are currently using HWI s methodology and tools with the audience. 8 37,000 handwashing and soap dispensers were distributed, reaching 250,000 children in schools and 22,000 women in households. (Partners financed transport, distribution, promotion and monitoring costs, while the program financed its production at US$0.66 per unit). There has been an expansion to 130 additional districts - equivalent to a 16.6% increase - in the second semester of SHARING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING CAPACITIES The Handwashing Initiative team is receiving an increasing number of technical assistance requests from regional and local governments, particularly in the development or adaptation of Monitoring & Evaluation methodologies and tools for local use. This growing demand is due to the impact evaluation design implemented by the project. Peru s HWI team provides technical assistance to a number of regional and local governments in the country. Recently, a major national program on reduction of malnutrition (PRONAA), which is administered by the Ministry of Women, requested this technical support as well. A workshop involving the HWI team and representatives from the Ministry of Women was celebrated to meet this demand. Rocío Flórez, Handwashing Task manager, WSP, Peru rflorezp@worldbank.org

9 PUBLICATIONS UNICEF AND WHO LAUNCH REPORT ON DIARRHEA Diarrhea: Why Children Are Still Dying and What Can Be Done addresses why children are still dying of diarrhea and what can be done. We know where children are dying of diarrhea. We know what must be done to prevent those deaths. We must work with governments and partners to put this seven-point plan into action. Dr. Margaret Chan, Directoror-General, WHO The report includes information on the causes of diarrhea, data on access to means of prevention and treatment, and a seven-point plan to reduce diarrhea deaths - which includes handwashing with soap. NEW WASH PUBLICATIONS The USAID Hygiene Improvement Project (HIP) has recently published the following tools: WASH Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease. Training package for organizations worldwide that seek to add WASH activities to their current programs or to start a diarrhea reduction program. The package is intended to support the training of local outreach workers and their work in communities to promote improved WASH practices to reduce diarrhea. Available on CD from HIP (hip@aed. org) or online at watsan.net/page/3396 Access and Behavioral Outcome Indicators for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. Developed for USAID and other organizations to measure indicators for handwashing, Point of Use (POU), and sanitation. It provides guidance to implementers of WASH programs on what indicators to use to measure their programs achievements. Available at: watsan.net/page/3395 Integrating WASH into HIV/AIDS for Home-based Care in Uganda. Set of materials developed to help train home-based care in Uganda on how to help household members overcome, or change, the many daily obstacles to improved WASH behaviors in the home. It includes: Training Manual, Participant s Guide, Assessment Tool, Counseling Cards, and Research Reports. Available at: watsan.net/page/4022 Contributed by Patricia Mantey, AED/HIP As a common symptom of gastrointestinal infection, diarrhea can have a variety of sources. Some 88 percent of diarrheal deaths worldwide are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. As of 2006, an estimated 2.5 billion people around the world were not using adequate sanitation facilities, and about 1 in 4 people in developing countries practiced open defecation. Access to clean water and good hygiene practices are extremely effective in preventing childhood diarrhea. Handwashing with soap has been shown to reduce the incidence of diarrheal disease by over 40 percent, making it one of the most cost-effective interventions for reducing child deaths caused by this neglected killer. ERADICATING DIARRHEA: THE 7-POINT PLAN The plan to save the lives of children stricken by diarrhea includes two treatment and five prevention elements: The two treatment elements are: 1. Fluid replacement to prevent dehydration 2. Zinc treatments, which decrease the severity and duration of the attack The five prevention elements are: 1. Immunization against rotavirus and measles 2. Early and exclusive breastfeeding and vitamin A supplementation 3. Handwashing with soap 4. Improved water supply quantity and quality 5. Promoting community-wide sanitation Source: UNICEF/WHO 9

10 NEWS MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING IN TANZANIA AND VIETNAM A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in January 2010 between the Tanzanian Ministries of Health and Social Welfare and Water and Irrigation. The MoU was the product of intensive partnership work among GTZ, KfW, UNICEF, WaterAid, and WSP, as well as government counterparts in the respective ministries. The MoU details the national arrangements for sanitation and hygiene, including formally establishing a National Sanitation and Hygiene Steering Committee, along with Sanitation and Hygiene Technical Committee and Working Groups. The MoU formalizes the definition of sanitation and handwashing, which follows the definitions adopted under this project. The Ministry of Health plans to have this memorandum countersigned in 2010 by the Permanent Secretaries from the Ministry of Education and the Prime Minister s Office Regional Administration and Local Government. a Memorandum of Understanding that provides a mandate for mainstreaming handwashing with soap activities in all 63 provinces in Vietnam. The MoU secures handwashing as a core component of the Women s Union programming, which effectively extends the reach of the program to the entire nation and ensures that handwashing activities will continue beyond the life of the current Handwashing Initiative project. The MoU outlines the respective roles and responsibilities for the signees. The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) will continue to provide technical assistance on intervention design, monitoring, and evaluation in the non-project provinces. Nangula Heita-Mwampamba, Coordinator & Advisor Urban Low- Income Water Supply and Sanitation Services, GTZ, Tanzania. Nga Kim Nguyen, Handwashing Task Manager, WSP, Vietnam ABOUT HANDWASHING LEARN ABOUT HANDWASHING COUNTRY WORK RESOURCES SOAP: A LIFE-SAVING FORMULA NEW PPPHW WEBSITE March 2010 will see the launch of the new PPPHW website, with a completely new look and feel, and revamped sections such as; country programs, learn about handwashing, and research. It will also include videos, current and past Soapbox newsletters, and the latest publications and tools on handwashing with soap. Stay tuned, and enjoy the new site! EVENTS Every year, diarrhea and acute respiratory infections cause the death of more than 3.5 million children under five. These figures could be cut dramatically if handwashing with soap were widely practiced. The global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap (PPPHW) works to save children s lives by promoting the awareness of this simple practice. The partnership is guided by the following principles: These deaths are preventable Research shows that, if widely practiced, handwashing with soap could reduce diarrhea by almost fifty percent and respiratory infections by nearly twenty-five percent. (Fewtrell et al., 2005) Handwashing with soap is a right Every child has a right to vaccination and should also have the right to protection from hand-transmitted diseases. Large-scale changes in handwashing practices can be achieved A large-scale increase in the practice of handwashing with soap would make a significant contribution to meeting the Millennium Development Goal 5: reducing deaths among children under five by two-thirds by In December 2009, the World Bank and the Vietnam Women s Union signed LIFEBUOY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL IN SLUMS IN MUMBAI In 2007, Lifebuoy undertook a study which proved that children using Lifebuoy soap experienced a reduction in the number of incidences of diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections (ARIs), and reduction in eye infections compared to a control group. Over the 10-month period, Lifebuoy worked with 1,656 families across 70 communities in Mumbai, India. Half of the families were provided with Lifebuoy soap along with regular education about the Lifebuoy Way ; namely, the importance of skin cleansing with Lifebuoy soap at five key occasions: before eating breakfast, lunch and evening meal, when bathing and after using the toilet. Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in Tanzania. (Image by GTZ) At the end of the trial, children aged approximately 5 years old (target population) in the intervention group had 25% fewer episodes of diarrhoea than those in the control group, with similar reductions in children in other age groups and adults, ranging from 21.4% to 24.7%. Similar reductions in the number of episodes of ARI (15%) and eye infections (46%) were observed in the children aged approximately 5 years old in the intervention group. Furthermore, due to the reduction in the number of episodes of disease there was a 40% increase in school attendance during the trial. Representatives of the Water and Sanitation sector in Tanzania endorse the new Memorandum. (Image by GTZ) The results to the trial have recently been published and presented at the World Health Organization conference in Busan (South Korea) on Children s Environmental Health, and can be found on Dr. Myriam Sidibe, Unilever 10

11 WASHING HANDS WITH HYGIENE PRACTITIONERS WORKSHOP HELD IN BANGLADESH The South Asia Hygiene practitioners workshop was held on February 1-4 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The workshop was organized by BRAC, IRC, WaterAid, and WSSCC, and it is part of five learning and sharing workshops on sanitation and hygiene organized during 2009 and About fifty participants from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Pakistan, Vietnam, and the Philippines attended the workshop. Among other topics, presentations revolved around: handwashing, behavior change, hygiene for men, menstrual hygiene, and scaling up school sanitation. Papers presented in the workshop can be viewed at Handwashing was one of the main themes of the workshop. Image: a woman washes hands at a tube well. (Image by ICDDRB) Ingeborg Krukkert, IRC KATIE CARROLL In November, Katie Carroll joined the Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing as its Secretariat Coordinator, marking the transfer of the PPPHW Secretariat from the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) to another PPPHW partner, the Academy for Educational Development (AED). Katie has joined the PPPHW after 10 years with Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), a major development contractor. Her most recent role at DAI was supporting USAID s public-private partnership (PPP) office in Washington. Katie created PPP tools and guidance for USAID s 80 offices around the world and trained over 500 staff members on how to design and implement publicprivate partnerships. Katie has also advised corporate clients on how to make their corporate social responsibility investments more effective. What is it that attracted you most about advocating for and promoting handwashing with soap? Handwashing with soap is a very simple habit that can yield enormous returns in terms of improved health. When I saw the statistics on how many children die each year from diseases which could be prevented by simply washing hands with soap at critical times, I knew this was the partnership for me. With such a simple message, how can we not have an enormous impact? What are the priorities of the partnership for 2010? One broad priority for 2010 is to expand our reach beyond the countries we have traditionally identified as PPPHW countries. There are so many organizations working on large-scale handwashing programs that we can learn from and share our experience with. Our goal is to make the PPPHW the global go-to resource for handwashing program expertise and networking. Katie Carroll Our goal is to make the PPPHW the global go-to resource for handwashing program expertise and networking. Our flagship initiative, Global Handwashing Day, saw 200 million children participate in handwashing events last October. We hope to build off of this momentum and make Global Handwashing Day even bigger this year. We also have a number of other exciting activities coming up like a revamped website, University of Handwashing and more tools and resources for country programs. How can the PPPHW better support country programs? Improving our support to handwashing initiatives in countries is a critical challenge for the PPPHW. I believe that if the efforts of the Global PPPHW don t result in improved handwashing 11 (continued on back page)

12 promotion programs on the ground, then we are failing as a partnership. To be successful, I think we need let the country-level needs drive our efforts at the global level. Some of these needs include resources, guidance on engaging the private sector, best practices from other countries, monitoring and evaluation tools, and much more. Many of the PPPHW s efforts this year will respond to those needs directly. What are the necessary ingredients for a successful PPP? There is so much work that goes into building a successful public-private partnership. In the first place, it s critical to think beyond the obvious private sector partner. Many people think that a soap company is the only private sector actor who would be interested in a partnership for handwashing. You have to ask yourself: who else in the private sector cares about handwashing and therefore, a healthier population? Brainstorm around this question, get creative, and I guarantee you ll think of some new potential partners. The best public-private partnerships are ones that fully use the unique expertise, networks, technology, and resources of each partner. Another key element is agreeing on a shared objective. Organizations come to a partnership for different reasons and all of them benefit from the partnership in different ways. Having a shared objective, in writing, will keep the partnership focused and on track. Equally important is understanding that adding value to a partnership is more than simply handing over a check. To me, this is fundraising, not a partnership. The most effective public-private partnerships are ones that fully utilize the unique expertise, networks, technology, and resources of each partner. Why should the private sector get involved in handwashing? I think the private sector can contribute tremendously to the promotion of handwashing with soap, and benefit from its positive impact, too. A healthier population means a more productive workforce and increased consumer base for handwashing and hygiene products, and handwashing can even make a company more competitive. I look forward to reaching out to more private sector organizations this year and getting them involved in handwashing promotion. Anything you would like to ask PPPHW partners and collaborators? Yes, please reach out to me, to each other. This is a community and we should be supporting each other toward our common goal of increasing handwashing with soap and reducing disease. I am always interested to hear your ideas and feedback, so please stay in touch! kcarroll@aed.org We encourage and welcome your comments and contributions to SoapBox. Please send them to Eloy Parra at eparra.wsp@gmail.com 12