13th October, 2011
Global Handwashing Day 2011 - because handwashing really can save lives!
Saturday 15th October is Global Handwashing Day 2011, which promotes the importance of handwashing in fighting disease. As diarrhoea is one of the leading killers of children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa, this is a vital message to spread.
Hygiene and sanitation are a key aspect of AMREF’s work in Africa. Clean water, adequate sanitation facilities and good hygiene practice are the foundation of good health - without them, lasting health change is impossible.
Promoting simple changes in behaviour such as handwashing, food and utensil washing and keeping animals away from food preparation areas can make a real difference to the health of a community.
AMREF implements several projects aimed at educating communities of the dangers of poor hygiene practice, as well as providing communities with appropriate sanitation facilities.
In order to combat the high levels of disease and death as a result of waterborne diseases in Kechene, an Ethiopian urban slum, AMREF is implementing a water and sanitation project sponsored by Diageo, Euromoney Institutional Investor, and the Opal Foundation.
As Kechene is an urban slum, it is not officially recognised by the state and therefore suffers from a severe lack of water and sanitation facilities. The extreme poverty and cramped conditions means that the spread of waterborne diseases is common.
AMREF is working with the local government authorities to provide access to safe, sustainable water sources and basic sanitation facilities in Kechene.
To illustrate this project, we are focusing here on the work funded by Euromoney, which will run until January 2013. The aims of this project are specifically to:
- Increase access to water and sanitation facilities by 20% in the target district by the end of the project life;
- Enable at least 80% of the target communities to manage and maintain sanitation and water facilities by the end of the project life;
- Increase the communities’ knowledge, attitude and practices on personal, family and environmental hygiene and sanitation.
The project has so far been a great success and over the past few months the team has made significant progress. Key achievements to date include:
- Construction of three sanitation kiosks (shower and toilet blocks), three shower blocks and 2 water storage tankers
- A newly refurbished spring is providing water for 2,700 people who previously had no permanent water source
- Eight water and sanitation committees were established and the 56 committee members trained to manage these new facilities
- 3,675 people were reached through education sessions on water, sanitation, personal hygiene, waterborne diseases and the prevention of communicable disease
If you would like to find out more about AMREF’s work in water and sanitation please visit our Fighting Disease page.