Welcome to the third issue of the COVID-19 Hygiene Hub Weekly News Bulletin. Read on to find out the most common enquiries we’ve received and how we’ve answered them, or familiarise yourself with our new and updated resources. This week we also delivered the last in a series of multi-lingual webinars to discuss ways of working with our global partners, this time in Arabic - find out more below. And for our project highlight, we’re sharing Action Contre la Faim’s phone-based service to communicate real-time guidance and information on COVID-19.

Common enquiries this past week included:

Please see our new resource document on COVID-19 and Schools here.

If you would like to know more about designing hygiene programmes, please see our resource document on hygiene programming for COVID-19 response here.

For more information on community engagement and approaches useful for rural areas, see our resource document here.

New resources

In response to web enquiries and discussions with partner organisations, we have continued to develop and revise our resource documents on a range of topics related to COVID-19 response.

Existing resources frequently visited by users include:

Resources we have updated with new evidence this week include:

Want to access other resources or these resources in other languages? Click here

If you have requests or ideas for future resources, please email us at support@hygienehub.info

Image: Zeina Algharaibeh, a WASH supervisor with ACF Jordan, listens to the opinions of populations about COVID-19 via their phone service.

In Jordan and Iraq, governments implemented strict confinement measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These restrictions meant that staff at Action Contre la Faim (ACF) were unable to perform regular community engagement activities despite vulnerable populations lacking information on the virus and its impacts.

In both countries, ACF developed a phone-based service to communicate real-time guidance and information on COVID-19. Unlike other hotlines, ACF is proactively calling people that have previously been involved in their programmes. A script was developed for ACF staff to ensure that the most important topics are covered and that the information being shared is correct. The script prompts the phone operator to first ask the respondent about what s/he knows about the topic and then to answer potential questions, correct information and provide further details as necessary. The script covers information about COVID-19 symptoms, transmission and preventive measures as well as its effect on individuals and families (including messages about stress management and referral pathways for other services).

Through this service, ACF has found that community awareness about COVID-19 increased. This led to their scripts and other programme activities being adapted. Now calls typically focus on the secondary impacts of the crisis such as access to services, markets, and work. For more information about ACF’s approach read this report or contact Pierre Marie Goimard: pgoimard@actioncontrelafaim.org

Over the last few weeks, we’ve delivered a series of webinars in partnership with the Global Wash Cluster providing an overview of the Hygiene Hub and discussing ways of working with our global network of partners. Listen to English, Spanish, French or Arabic recordings of the webinar and access the Q&A.