Unite for universal hand hygiene through inclusive and resilient WASH

Celebrating Global Handwashing Day 2022 (picture by World Vision Vanuatu)

As we move beyond the height of the COVID-19 pandemic - a time when the vital importance of good hand hygiene for health and wellbeing resonated more than ever - it’s hard to believe that 2.3 billion people globally still lack access to a basic handwashing facility at home, and some 670 million have no handwashing facility at all.

Healthy communities start with healthy hands. This Global Handwashing Day - and every day - we join the call for universal hand hygiene through inclusive and sustainable WASH services and systems. Without it, we can’t achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 – clean water and sanitation for all - upon which all 17 goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development rely.

Today also marks the International Day of Rural Women. Rural women make up a quarter of the world’s population – as custodians, farmers, wage earners, entrepreneurs, outreach workers and carers - yet are among the most marginalised in the world. Rural women are at the forefront of climate-related impacts and face significant discrimination and violence in their everyday lives. Their contribution is widely underestimated and undervalued.

Water for Women supports the voice and agency of rural women and other marginalised groups, by placing them at the centre of decision-making for more equitable and inclusive systems. This leads to more effective and sustainable outcomes and practices in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), including handwashing with soap.

Joint action and collaboration are essential for successful and sustainable hand hygiene strategies, which are underpinned by inclusive systems that ensure diverse voices are part of the decision-making and implementation. That is why, under our Learning Agenda, a dedicated focus on systems strengthening in national and subnational WASH systems is uncovering and sharing lessons from across Water for Women projects in 15 countries, to support long-term transformative change to WASH policy and practice globally.

Learn how Water for Women partners are uniting for universal hand hygiene across the Asia-Pacific in our latest learning brief on Handwashing Behaviour Change, launched today! 

Handwashing with water and soap is widely accepted as the most effective and affordable way to safeguard community health and wellbeing. It can reduce:

• diarrheal diseases by up to 30%
• acute respiratory infections by up to 25%
• healthcare-associated infections by up to 40% and the spread of antimicrobial resistance
• transmission of outbreak-related pathogens such as cholera, Ebola, SARS and COVID-19
• and contribute to the reduction of Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Equitable access to handwashing and hygiene facilities is also essential to promoting gender equality, disability and social inclusion – in all aspects of life. It has played a vital role in schools, workplaces, health care facilities and public places re-opening and maintaining effective COVID-19 prevention measures. But beyond the pandemic – let’s not lose this momentum.

Around the world, some 818 million students still have nowhere to wash their hands at school. We know that this especially precludes girls and some non-binary students from attending during menstruation; an effect mirrored in workplaces, public places and community spaces that lack safe and inclusive WASH access. Now is the time to unite for universal hand hygiene, and to ensure sustainable WASH access for all.

We invite you to explore some stories from our partners from around the Asia-Pacific region below...