Beyond Global Handwashing Day
Global Handwashing Day is a once-a-year opportunity to make a big splash in support of handwashing with soap, but the important work of hygiene promotion shouldn’t end after October 15. If all Global Handwashing Day celebrants advocate for handwashing with soap throughout the year – not just on October 15 – we can make significant progress in moving toward the goal of increasing hand hygiene programs, investment, and behavior.
Below you will find some simple ideas to make handwashing a centerpiece of healthy behaviors around the year. Regardless of your affiliation, we encourage you to stay up to date on the latest in handwashing by signing up for our e-newsletter and following the Global Handwashing Partnership (GHP) on X/Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. For more resources relating to the promotion of handwashing with soap, including an all-in-one Handwashing Handbook, check out the Global Handwashing Partnership resource hub.
If you are a parent
- Help your child’s school with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) improvements, such as the development of a group handwashing station.
- Create or join a Parent-Teacher Association WASH Committee to educate children and advocate for handwashing stations.
- Make sure your home has a place near the toilet and where food is prepared to wash hands with soap.
- Teach all your children proper handwashing with soap at critical times and be sure to demonstrate this behavior yourself.
- Stay up to date on the latest from the GHP by signing up for our e-newsletter.
If you are a teacher or school leader
- Make sure your school has a place near the toilet and on the way to lunch to wash hands and ensure that soap is available to students.
- Advocate to government agencies to support WASH in schools.
- Use UNICEF/GIZ’s Three Star Approach to WASH in Schools.
- Incorporate hygiene curriculum into lesson plans and ensure that handwashing is a strong component of school WASH clubs.
- Stay up to date on the latest from the GHP by signing up for our e-newsletter.
If you are a community leader
- Demonstrate good hygiene practices to help change social norms around handwashing. Call upon all families in the community to build and maintain a functional handwashing station near the latrine and food preparation areas.
- Lead the community in advocacy for increased investment and commitment from government leaders to support handwashing with soap and WASH in your community.
- Work with local government officials, non-governmental organizations, and religious groups to raise funds for handwashing stations in public places, such as schools or marketplaces.
- Stay up to date on the latest from the GHP by signing up for our e-newsletter.
If you are a non-governmental organization
- Consider joining the Global Handwashing Partnership.
- Integrate hand hygiene into other related projects, such as those pertaining to child development and health, nutrition, education, sanitation, and water supply.
- Work to make your hygiene programs more sustainable by using tools, such as this Handwashing Handbook and by incorporating learnings about habit formation.
- Advocate for increased investment from donors and governments to support handwashing with soap and WASH.
- Stay up to date on the latest from the GHP by signing up for our e-newsletter.
If you are a government agency
- Consider joining the Global Handwashing Partnership.
- Examine national hand hygiene policies and strategies. If no policy is in place, consider developing a national hand hygiene policy or strategy in your country.
- Review your country’s hand hygiene status through the Hand Hygiene Acceleration Framework Tool.
- Ensure that handwashing and WASH indicators are included in national monitoring systems.
- Review budgets to ensure there are dedicated line items to support WASH and hand hygiene.
- Seek out additional funding from various donors to improve WASH conditions in schools, health facilities, and other government-run institutions.
- Create incentives for teachers, school directors, or regional agencies to teach handwashing and make schools “WASH friendly” through adequate water and sanitation provision.
- Stay up to date on the latest from the GHP by signing up for our e-newsletter.
If you are a donor organization
- Consider joining the Global Handwashing Partnership.
- Review and improve your policies and budget for the WASH sector and handwashing with soap.
- Increase and sustain financing to meet hand hygiene targets by investing in programs and national plans/strategies that are hygiene sensitive and promote hand hygiene habits.
- Host conferences or meetings to discuss and promote hygiene.
- Stay up to date on the latest from the GHP by signing up for our e-newsletter.
If you are a private company
- Consider joining the Global Handwashing Partnership.
- Incorporate handwashing promotion messages into your company’s external and internal messaging.
- Make handwashing and WASH a priority focus for your Corporate Social Responsibility programs.
- Ensure that all of your locations promote handwashing with soap for your employees and customers and ensure handwashing stations and soap are available in the workplace.
- Collaborate with other hand hygiene actors to promote good formative research and contribute to handwashing initiatives.
- Research and develop new handwashing innovations.
- Stay up to date on the latest from the GHP by signing up for our e-newsletter.
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