Sanitation & Hygiene Week - What is it?
During the last Global Forum in Dakar in 2004, an initiative of a Sanitation & Hygiene Week was launched. This week, from 15 to 21 March, precedes World Water Day (22 March) and aims to highlight sanitation and hygiene as important components of WASH.
Sanitation & Hygiene Week is a unique opportunity to embark on a comprehensive campaign to advocate for safe sanitation and good hygiene practices.
As opposed to World Water Day, Sanitation & Hygiene Week is only celebrated at country level. Traditionally, WSSCC’s National Coordinators (NCs) are the driving force behind this advocacy initiative. If you want to know what is going on in your country, please contact your NC. If your country does not have a NC, we invite you to join forces with other motivated WASH colleagues to undertake action.
Please click here to read the UN Secretary General's message for World Water Day 2008.
What can you do?
There are infinite ways of raising awareness. To name just a few:
- Organise info events and round table discussions in your community,
- Target the media by organising workshops or releasing a press statement,
- Organise a Sanitation & Hygiene art competition in schools,
- Send Sanitation & Hygiene messages to politicians,
- Etc...
If you want to read more about advocacy in the WASH sector, download following documents:
To help you in formulating sanitation-related messages, check out following documents and web-links:
- International Year of Sanitation Advocacy Kit
- WASH Media Guide
- Websites of UN Water, the International Year of Sanitation 2008 & World Water Day 2008
To help you in formulating hygiene-related messages, check out following documents and web-links:
