A new momentum for healthy, green schools in Lusaka

November 8, 2022

A new momentum for healthy, green schools in Lusaka

Since the start of the COVID pandemic, the Safe Back to School campaign has shown what’s possible when people come together around a shared aim. As COVID recedes, the campaign’s partners are seizing the momentum to broaden and deepen school health initiatives.

A win for WinS (WASH in schools): The UNICEF-GIZ partnership turns 10

June 27, 2022

A win for WinS (WASH in schools): The UNICEF-GIZ partnership turns 10

A unique alignment of development partners working together over the last 10 years has supported major improvements in some countries and led to greater momentum for WASH in Schools.

Young female influencers energise the campaign against menstrual taboos in Nepal – and beyond

May 12, 2022

Young female influencers energise the campaign against menstrual taboos in Nepal – and beyond

‘Clicktivism‘ is proving an effective tool for challenging harmful practices and for empowering young women in Nepal.

Beyond toilets: Managing human waste across the sanitation chain in India

March 21, 2022

Beyond toilets: Managing human waste across the sanitation chain in India

In a bid to end open defaecation, India has built more than 100 million toilets since 2014. But to protect human health and the environment, cities have to safely manage what comes out of them. Shit Flow Diagrams have emerged as a key tool to help them plan and monitor progress.

Uncomfortable truths: How Shit Flow Diagrams expose the gaps in urban sanitation systems – and help to close them

November 16, 2021

Uncomfortable truths: How Shit Flow Diagrams expose the gaps in urban sanitation systems – and help to close them

In rapidly growing cities in Africa and Asia, the sanitation needs of the very poorest are often neglected – to the detriment of public health. By visualising how excreta is managed as it moves through a city, Shit Flow Diagrams can help municipal authorities to prioritise investments where they are needed most.

WASH

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are crucial for human life and health.

Every year almost seven million children die before their fifth birthday, many from preventable diarrhoeal diseases. About 780 million people have no access to safe drinking water, and more than one third of the world’s population live without even basic sanitation. Access to water can be a challenge, both in urban slums with congested public fountains and in rural areas, where collecting water for the household can require a long and sometimes dangerous trek by women or children to a distant well or waterhole. 

A third to a half of schools and even health facilities in developing countries lack clean water and/or sanitation, making them a potential source of contamination. Lack of privacy in schools’ sanitary facilities restricts particularly girls’ access to education.

German development cooperation sees the realisation of the human right to water and sanitation as key to sustainable development and poverty reduction. As can be read in the articles and studies on this page, this immense challenge requires multidimensional efforts, allying sustainable infrastructure development (e.g. integrated and climate-sensitive urban sanitation systems) with impacting beneficiaries’ knowledge, attitude and practice concerning hygiene, as in adapted FIT for School programmes.

icon_stories_black Stories


pub_icon Studies

Scroll to Top