Afghanistan: UNICEF and Red Cross hygiene promotion activities

Both UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) actively promote safe water, sanitation and hygiene practices in Afghanistan. UNICEF reports that the Afghan government has adopted a new national policy on hygiene.

UNICEF-sponsored ‘Behaviour Change Committees’ teach people about better sanitation and hygiene. The UNICEF-sponsored ‘Healthy School Initiative’, not only teaches students to brush their teeth and wash their hands with soap and water, but also provides drinking water, gender-specific latrines, and deworming tablets.

At a press conference on 24 March 2009, a spokesperson of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), reported that in 2009 “UNICEF is aiming to select a village in each province of Afghanistan to showcase how a community can help ensure everyone adopts clean sanitation and hygiene practices”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) conducts hygiene promotion sessions in madrasas, hammams (bath houses) and other public places, as well as with families in their homes. In March 2009, the ICRC water and habitat teams carried out hygiene sessions for over 2,571 people from vulnerable communities in urban areas of Herat, Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar.

Related news: Afghanistan: children forced to abandon school through drought and poverty, Source South Asia, 15 Dec 2008 ; WASH news Asia,& Pacific - hygiene promotion

Related web sites: IRC - Hygiene Promotion ; Hygiene Improvement Project ; Hygiene Central ; World Bank - Hygiene and Sanitation Promotion ; Health in Your Hands

Contact: UNICEF Afghanistan, kabul@unicef.org ; ICRC Afghanistan, kabul.kab@icrc.org

Source: David Koch, UNICEF, 12 Mar 2009 ; UNAMA, 24 Mar 2009 ; ICRC, 16 Apr 2009

Keywords

• South Asia
• Sanitation - Hygiene promotion
• Sanitation - School sanitation