Cleanliness is next to godliness
Handwashing day commemorated
“Washing hands with clean water and soap is one of the most important and effective precautionary measures to prevent the transmission of diseases such as Covid-19 and hepatitis E,” Windhoek mayor Sade Gawanas said at the global handwashing event held at the Soweto market earlier this week.Each year, the City of Windhoek joins UNICEF, the European Union Delegation in Namibia and other stakeholders in celebrating Health and Hygiene Promotion Month, which precedes World Handwashing Day on 15 October. This year's theme is "Together for universal hand hygiene".
According to Windhoek mayor Sade Gawanas, this event had two goals: First, highlighting the efforts to promote health and hygiene in food-handling markets, including awareness aimed at educating food artisans on the importance of health and hygiene practices in preventing the spread of infection and disease amid global pandemics; and second: Promoting the importance of maintaining hygiene and complying with standards in all markets.
“I have been informed that as part of our ongoing partnership and collaboration, UNICEF has provided funding of N$85 000 to host this year's Health and Hygiene Promotion Month. It is also worth noting that all of these supplies, which the award-winning markets will receive today, have been procured with UNICEF funding.”
During the event, the Wernhil market was awarded as the cleanest market in the city. Khomasdal market won the cleanest market award in the small market category, while Limbandungila market in the northern industrial area received the most improved market award.
Improvement of hygiene behaviour
Deputy head of the EU delegation to Namibia, Gosia Lachut, said: “Promoting handwashing is an integral aspect of improving sanitation in informal settlements. Increased investment in sanitation infrastructure, including the provision of water and sanitation, is essential as Namibia urbanizes rapidly and more people move from the countryside to the city.”
For the past two years, the EU Delegation in Namibia has financially supported a WASH project implemented by Development Workshop Namibia (DWN). The project is based on an approach known as Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS).
The main CLTS objectives are:
• Improving the hygiene behaviour of residents in informal settlements, with a focus on hand washing and water storage;
• Residents should be encouraged to build their own toilets by providing them with guidelines for building toilets that are safe according to WHO and national standards;
• The creation of residential areas free of open toilets (Open Defecation Free, ODF).
The project works with a network of 60 volunteers who run a public information campaign. The project is currently being implemented in nine cities across Namibia. More than 24 sanitation centres were built as part of the project, providing demonstration toilets, hand washing facilities and waste collection points. “To date, the residents of the project area have built more than 4 800 toilets,” Lachut said.
According to UNICEF representative Rachel Odede, 785 million people still lack access to basic drinking water. Two billion people do not have access to basic sanitation and a total of 673 million people use the toilet outdoors.
“If current progress continues, by 2030 only 78% of the world's population will have basic hygiene services, leaving 1.9 billion people without the ability to wash their hands at home. In Namibia, the 2015 report on the status of open latrines in Namibia found that only 54% of the population wash their hands with soap at critical moments.”