WASH in Schools

The thematic group on WASH in Schools was reinvented and revived in 2006 by UNICEF and the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC). The group believes that children have a right to basic facilities such as toilets, safe drinking water, clean surroundings and basic information on hygiene, and therefore it is among the responsibility of schools to provide these to them. They also stress that if these conditions are created, children learn better and can bring concepts and practices on sanitation and hygiene back to their families. The group is composed of water and sanitation professionals from various organizations  who construct their activities around:

• Designing child-friendly, gender sensitive facilities for sanitation, hand washing, water supply and solid waste collection
• Developing life skills-based hygiene education
• Incorporating parents and community as target groups
• Initiating planning processes that incorporate long-term sustainability
• Creating a policy environment that facilitates effective long-term interventions
  
• Overseeing joint efforts and partnerships with other organizations

A UNICEF and IRC published manual on scaling up programmes for water, sanitation and hygiene in schools can be found here.

For further information please visit the WASH in Schools website at www.schools.watsan.net.

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