Every year on October 15th, the world celebrates Global Handwashing Day, which highlights the critical importance of inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve SDG 6, which promises sanitation for all by 2030, including access to adequate toilets and handwashing facilities.
This year, Oxfam in Uganda joined key stakeholders, including government representatives and civil society organizations working in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector for the national celebrations of the Global Handwashing Day which were held at the Mandela National Stadium, in Kampala.
According to Stella Opio Amuchu, the Oxfam in Uganda Public Health Promotion Officer who was attended the event, it provided a unique opportunity for the organisation to engage in meaningful dialogue about WASH with both local and international stakeholders who included: learners, teachers, health officers, and government personnel.
Mr. Bosco Okia, the Principal Health Inspector at the Ministry of Health, noted that approximately 70% of Ugandans do not wash their hands after using a toilet or latrine.
This lack of proper hygiene practices continues to increase the risk of transmitting preventable diseases and underscores the urgent need for stakeholders in the sanitation field to implement effective awareness campaigns and interventions that promote handwashing as a crucial aspect of personal and community health.
Oxfam in Uganda has implemented WASH programs across West Nile and the Mt. Elgon region, providing latrines and water facilities to refugees and host communities through projects like the Strengthening Resilience through Enhanced Local Disaster Risk Management Capacity and the more recent WASH in Schools project.
According to the United Nations, 1,000 children die every day from acute diarrhoea linked to poor hygiene, sanitation, and contaminated water consumption as highlighted by the Commissioner for Rural Water Supply who said that as a country, we lose at least 1.7 million children under the age of 5 every year due to preventable diseases that could be avoided through good hygiene practices.
Through dance, drama, discussions around sensitization, and an exhibition of WASH innovations and value-added products, the national celebrations for Global Handwashing Day sought to collectively find solutions to the sanitation challenges in Uganda and create awareness about the importance of handwashing, as reflected in this year’s theme, "Why Clean Hands are Important."
As the event was concluded, key recommendations and lessons learnt included the following:
- The Need to strengthen the health system to prevent Health Acquired Infections [HAI].
- The need to strengthen the built environment on WASH infrastructure, especially for hand hygiene at community, health, and school institutions. Government to increase budget allocation for the sector also following the presidential dialogue on 11th October 2024.
- Importance of building a collaborative approach between government and CSOs.
- The Minister of Water and Environment recommended the synergy establishment with the WASH sector and the office of the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Health.
- The need for Peer-to-peer learning at the community and institutional level is an effortless way of disseminating information on hand washing.
- The need to promote Innovation in WASH technologies like chlorination equipment and hand washing facilities with detergents is seen to enhance access to clean water for hand hygiene which contributes to the prevention of micro-organism spread.