WD News: This Global Handwashing Day (October 15th), UNICEF are raising awareness of the importance of WASH education programmes and good handwashing practices in schools in order to develop good habits early in life. Global Handwashing Day is an opportunity to advocate to governments and key stakeholders for greater investment in hand hygiene, encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times, or simply raise the profile of hand hygiene.
In India, 25% of children (111 million) experience high and extremely high water vulnerability, with half of all schools lacking adequate hand washing platforms. As part of Xylem’s efforts to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, Xylem Watermark is supporting UNICEF’s policy-led approach for the next three years. Over the past two years, UNICEF have been working across India, developing and implementing WASH programs to deliver a measurable and meaningful impact for millions of children by dramatically increasing their access to safe water, critical sanitation and awareness of safe hygiene practices.
Xylem Watermark committed more than €1 million to UNICEF’s WASH initiatives, equivalent to almost 44% of UNICEF annual WASH in Schools budget, which enabled UNICEF to reach 1.26 million people, supporting at least 557,279 people with better access to WASH facilities in schools and pre-schools. In addition to this, UNICEF supported the redevelopment of a knowledge management hub for more than 80 global WASH practitioners, policymakers, governments, civil society and academics to access the latest WASH information, share experiences, and support continuous improvement in program design and delivery.
At a national level, UNICEF played a key role in the rollout of India’s Swachhata Action Plan, a campaign to improve WASH services at schools, and led its implementation in 86,570 schools where an estimated 4.5 million children were given unprecedented access to proper sanitation and hygiene systems.
By contributing to UNICEF’s WASH program in India in an ongoing partnership that is set to extend to 2023, Xylem Watermark aims to reach more than 3.4 million children with improved awareness and access to water, sanitation and hygiene through schools and pre-schools in the most vulnerable communities.
Source: Xylem
Image for illustration purpose only (Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock)
