Pivoting work to focus on COVID-19 education, hygiene and water

WaterAid have always been sector leaders in water, sanitation and hygiene as the only NGO in Australia specialising in this critical area. Our work has always been urgent, but in the current COVID-19 world, it is now an emergency.

We are living in unprecedented times and although water, sanitation and hygiene have always been at the core of our work, in the face of this pandemic we have made a shift to placing hygiene, such as handwashing, at the very forefront.

Handwashing is one of the simplest and most effective disease prevention methods available. It has been shown to reduce the incidence of acute respiratory infection by up to 23%, reduce pneumonia by up to 50% and result in up to a 48% reduction in the risk of endemic diarrhea. It can also help healthcare centres support a response to an outbreak like the current pandemic.

Yet the statistics of people lacking education and facilitates to wash their hands with soap and water is staggering. One in six healthcare facilities globally do not have both soap and water available for doctors, nurses and patients to wash their hands, which can make disease prevention and delivering safe, quality care much more challenging.

In the countries WaterAid Australia works, the shocking statistics continue.

Only 61% of people in Cambodia have access to handwashing facilities with both soap and water, and 29% of the population has no access to any type of handwashing facilities. In Timor-Leste, only 28% of the population has access to handwashing facilities with both soap and water. In Papua New Guinea (PNG) less than 1% of rural households have handwashing facilities with soap and water.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have shifted focus to scaling up our hygiene work. In PNG for example, where we have operated for 16 years, we are working urgently and with local and national governments on hygiene focused programs.

Over 63% of the population lacks access to a basic water supply, and 81% of the population lack access to a basic hygienic toilet. The statistics are shocking, and what is more shocking is that they are happening in a country just a one-hour flight from Australia.

This already existing poor hygiene context creates an added challenge to our work. To respond to the virus, WaterAid is implementing a major national hygiene and COVID-19 awareness campaign in PNG. The campaign will run on billboards, print advertising, radio, television and social media to promote hygiene and COVID-19 awareness widely in the country.

WaterAid is using this campaign to help achieve two goals:

1. Provide COVID-19 awareness and education

2. Educate people in PNG on hand hygiene and COVID-19 prevention behaviours such as:

a. Handwashing with soap

b. Respiratory hygiene

c. Maintaining social distancing

d. Cleanliness and food hygiene

WaterAid is also working with the local governments to provide information and education about how to make soap from locally available materials, as well as low-cost solutions for handwashing infrastructure.

WaterAid staff on the ground in PNG continue to tirelessly conduct direct community outreach with rural communities to spread World Health Organisation awareness messaging to prepare locals for COVID-19, and dispel any myths related to the virus, providing only facts and information to ensure preparedness.

Globally, our country programs have been agile and swift in bringing hygiene equipment and education where it is needed.

WaterAid Pakistan has installed handwashing facilities in quarantine centres, healthcare facilities and fruit and vegetable markets around the country. WaterAid Ghana have supplied healthcare workers and facilities with soap, thermometers and masks. WaterAid Eswatini have been supplying group handwashing facilities in rural areas, as well as hygiene hampers for the market vendors, Close to 150,000 will be able to use these facilities.

The team in Cambodia have been supporting a community youth group to run handwashing education programs to slow the spread of COVID-19, as well as travelling to rural areas to share information about the virus and handwashing.

The WaterAid team in Madagascar are working to support homeless people with a series of products and educational materials to help them comply with the recommended hygiene instructions to stop the spread of COVID-19. This includes delivering mobile handwashing facilities and soap.

Our response globally and close to home in PNG are key examples of why sustainable and long-term solutions are at the core of what we do. Through the exchange of information and education we can enable people to create their own sustainable and lifelong changes and keep their families and communities safe.

If everyone, everywhere had a place to wash their hands with soap and water as often as needed, it would go a long way towards helping to contain and prevent the spread of many diseases.

Spport of our COVID-19 appeal will ensure we are able to continue the critical work we do, and will help us save lives.

Rosie Wheen

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WaterAid Australia Chief Executive Rosie Wheen has been here since the beginning, all the way back in 2004. Back then she a young mother, recently returned from years working and volunteering in Indonesia. Since then she’s had a range of roles within WaterAid, starting in administration, moving all the way up to the Chief Executive role – all with the theme of challenging herself.

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