Islamabad: Over 40 million people in Pakistan lack access to handwashing facilities with water and soap and the floods have exacerbated the situation, which washed away WASH facilities, which is contributing in spread of diarrhea infections, especially among children in flood-affected areas.
This was stated by Ziggy Kugedera, a WASH Specialist from UNICEF, while speaking at a gathering held to commemorate Global Handwashing Day in Islamabad. The event was organized by the Ministry of Climate Change, GIZ, UNICEF, Unilever and WaterAid to raise awareness and commitment to promoting handwashing as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.
To avoid the outbreak of infectious diseases in flood-affected areas, the need of handwashing becomes more important to save lives. This is everyone’s responsibility, including government, private sector, men, and women, including children,” he remarked. UNICEF reiterates its commitment to support the government of Pakistan in rolling out the Hand Hygiene for All roadmap to achieve universal handwashing by 2030.
The event included launching the National WASH Behavior Change Communication (BCC) strategy, further disseminating the Hand Hygiene for All roadmap to provinces and a panel discussion around the same.
While speaking at the event, Ms. Naz Baloch, Parliamentary Secretary on Climate Change, urged sector partners to play a collective role and educate the masses about adopting and developing the habit of handwashing. “Government is committed to promoting and implementing the Hand Hygiene for All roadmap and will always support such initiatives in future. But now is the time when the support of WASH Sector partners is critically needed, ” she added.
Arif Jabbar Khan, Country Director – WaterAid, Pakistan, discussed the role of Behavior Change Communication and emphasized that “understanding the triggers of unhygienic behaviors and the bottlenecks that prevent marginalized communities from practicing hygienic behaviors are central to achieving Hand Hygiene for All”. “We also need to work with influencers from different fields who can model behavior change and help achieve our common goals”, he added.
