In Karnali, Nepal, 60% of schools and 50% of households in municipalities that SUSWA works with, report not having functional hand washing facilities with soap and water. This #GlobalHandwashingDay, we must #UniteforUniversalHandHygiene to ensure hand hygiene for ALL.
Handwashing with soap is one of the cheapest ways to improve health and well-being, playing a key role in the control of infectious-disease outbreaks.
Beyond disease reduction, hand washing is important to achieve benefits such as increased school attendance and enhanced dignity.
However, for people to be able to practice hand hygiene, they need #access to hand hygiene facilities that are conveniently located and easy to use. Handwashing stations are also often not designed for people with disabilities, leaving many unable to wash their hands when needed, even when soap and water is available.
To accelerate progress needed to meet the SDGs and achieve universal hand hygiene by 2030, the Nepal government, under the leadership of Ministry of Water Supply, has drafted a Roadmap for Hand Hygiene For All.
Following the Roadmap, SUSWA works with municipalities to support communities and schools to establish hand hygiene as a societal norm and to construct accessible, inclusive, facilities, bringing together government, public and private sectors, civil society and communities to join hands for creating an enabling environment for hand hygiene behavior.
Pictured is the local Water Users and Sanitation Committee’s secretary demonstrating hand washing with soap and water in Dolpa, Nepal.
For #sustainable and #inclusive hygiene, we must all work together.
#UniteforUniversalHandHygiene#GlobalHandWashingDay2022#WASH#Nepal#Karnali
