The importance of water, sanitation and hygiene

UNICEF water, sanitation and hygiene strategies for 2006 2015

2 See Water For Life Israeli Assault on Palestinian Water, Sanitation and Hygiene During the Intifada, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Monitoring Project of the Palestinian Hydrology Group, May 2004.

Focusing on sanitation, water quality and hygiene at the household level

In view of women's role in household sanitation and hygiene, awareness raising campaigns can be effective when targeted to this audience, mobilizing women to spread the sanitation and hygiene message.

The representative of Bangladesh praised the evaluation of his country's rural hygiene, sanitation and water supply project, describing the steady focus of UNICEF on fresh water supply, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

The Minister of Prevention, Public Hygiene and Sanitation of Senegal spoke on the outcome of the Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Forum, held in Dakar from 29 November to 3 December 2004.

Improved and sustained hygiene (particularly hand washing), water safety and environmental sanitation practices.

Endorses the UNICEF water, sanitation and hygiene strategies for 2006 2015 (E ICEF 2006 6) as the UNICEF official strategy document for programmes of support in the area of water, sanitation and hygiene.

The Minister of Prevention, Public Hygiene and Sanitation of Senegal spoke on the outcome of the Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Forum, held in Dakar from 29 November to 3 December 2004.

Poor hygiene, sanitation and water exacerbate poverty by reducing productivity and elevating health care costs.

UNICEF is further supporting the water and environmental sanitation project to improve capacity of key Government staff to promote hygiene behaviours and education, and sanitation.

The Dakar Roadmap resulting from the First Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Forum offers another useful model for developing countries to meet the sanitation goals.

Options are presented on access to basic water services integrated water resources management access to basic sanitation sanitation and hygiene education and wastewater collection, treatment and reuse.

This could involve a combination of targeting the sanitation needs of the poor and increasing support for hygiene education, which can leverage domestic sanitation demand and investment.

Strategies for conveying key sanitation and hygiene messages, for example, about hand washing, and for promoting sanitation solutions have proven effective when they are culturally and gender sensitive.

It shall implement food hygiene policies and look after and inspect the country's sanitation facilities and drinking water supply

Increased use of safe water and sanitation facilities and improved hygiene practices contribute significantly to public health programmes in general.

Community based organizations and non governmental organizations could act as catalysts for improved hygiene and sanitation in rural communities, and Governments could assist in training local suppliers of sanitation fixtures and services.

UNICEF supported water, sanitation and hygiene promotion initiatives in schools in 76 countries in 2004, compared to 47 in 2002.

The scope of this commitment has been codified in the CCCs that include specific hygiene, sanitation and water supply activities.

In this case, public health education and hygiene awareness raising, including through mass media, could create demand for sanitation services.

UNICEF interventions focus on expanding programmes that promote improved hygiene and sanitation, while maintaining support for improved water supply services.

After the immediate response, the focus was on rehabilitating water systems, building latrines, cleaning schools and conducting sanitation and hygiene campaigns.

While hygiene education and awareness raising are often continuing processes requiring long term donor and government commitment, they can catalyse private demand for sanitation services, thus leveraging household and community sanitation investments.

The strategic aim is to expand the promotion of improved hygiene and sanitation, while maintaining support for improved water supply services.

Since the 1960s, when UNICEF supported mainly water supply in emergencies, the focus has widened to include sanitation and hygiene education.

Hygiene, sanitation and water supply activities in emergencies are informed by the same guiding principles and strategies as those for priority countries.

Programmes that combine improved sanitation and hand washing facilities in schools with hygiene education can improve the health of children for life.

Maximum child survival and development benefits are realized when water supply, sanitation and hygiene programmes are coordinated or integrated with other sectoral programmes.

The Initiative will support increased national action in the fields of water, sanitation and hygiene through advocacy, coalition building and South South collaboration

Adequate water and sanitation provision, together with hygiene education and efficient solid waste collection and disposal, are crucial to safeguarding public health in human settlements.

A particularly effective demonstration effect has been the provision of sanitation facilities in schools to complement health and hygiene education in the school curriculum.

UNICEF provided support to water, sanitation and hygiene programmes in 93 countries in 2004, ranging from national policy development to service delivery in focus districts.

E ICEF 2006 6 Item 10 of the provisional agenda UNICEF water, sanitation and hygiene strategies for 2006 2015 A C E F R S

Following the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Senegal established the Ministry of Prevention, Hygiene Promotion and Sanitation (Ministère de la Prévention, de l'Hygiene Publique et de l'Assainissement) as the ministerial level institutional home for addressing sanitation issues.

Water, sanitation and hygiene are also linked to many other diseases that kill children or stunt their development, including helminth infections, dracunculiasis, trachoma, cholera, fluorosis and arsenicosis.

UNICEF supported water, sanitation and hygiene education programmes for schools in 76 countries in 2004 and plans to expand the programme during the Water for Life Decade.

Inadequate and unsafe water, poor sanitation, and unsafe hygiene practices are the main causes of diarrhoea, which results in at least 1.9 million under 5 child deaths annually.

Improved sanitation and hygiene practices could be encouraged by setting targets and providing incentives to communities to meet them (as with the zero open defecation initiative in India).

In the decade since the publication of the 1995 paper on UNICEF strategies in water and environmental sanitation (E ICEF 1995 17 and Corr.1), a growing body of evidence has demonstrated the critical importance of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for children.

She highlighted water and sanitation as a strategy to support work in both child survival and girls' education, the focus being on creating separate sanitation facilities for girls and promoting hygiene education that can help spread behavioural change from schools to the homes.

Target 2 Support to programmes to deliver nutrition, child and maternal health, water, sanitation and hygiene related services and commodities, and to convergent service delivery among the most disadvantaged

There is increasing evidence that a greater focus on the household level increases the effectiveness of sectoral programmes, especially in the areas of sanitation, water quality and hygiene promotion.

The only way to sustainably reduce this massive burden of disease is through the use of safe drinking water, sanitation and improved hygiene practices, in particular hand washing with soap.