News Bulletin: 25 March 2021
Daniel Korbel avatar
Written by Daniel Korbel
Updated over a week ago

Welcome to the 19th issue of the COVID-19 Hygiene Hub news bulletin.

In this issue, we bring you a summary report on how to set up effective and sustainable handwashing infrastructure and we introduce a new section of the Hygiene Hub website that showcases the in-depth technical advice we can provide to you. We also share two case studies with you, one from Indonesia about how a national rural water supply and sanitation project was adapted in response to the pandemic, and one from Kenya where a puppetry programme was developed for mass media use to promote COVID-19 preventive behaviours among children.

As always, if you have a question for the Hygiene Hub, need technical support or would like to share your project, we encourage you to contact us at support@hygienehub.info.

Technical resources

Through our collection of technical resources, we continue to gather up-to-date evidence and guidance to support you in your COVID-19 response.

In our latest summary report, we bring together learning on how to design, improve and maintain handwashing facilities to foster sustainable changes in hygiene behaviour. We explore the factors that influence this behaviour change; suggest criteria that will help you with the design and selection of appropriate handwashing infrastructure in your context; and provide guidance on how to work with communities to ensure the success of the facilities.

We continue to make all of our technical resources available in English, French, Spanish, and Arabic. Please email us at support@hygienehub.info if you have requests or ideas for future resources.

Areas of technical support

In addition to the rapid support you can access through the ‘get technical advice’ feature on the Hygiene Hub website, we also provide tailored in-depth technical assistance to COVID-19 response actors.

We recently added a new section to our website to give you a sense of the breadth and diversity of this in-depth support across the programme and policy cycle. Over the coming weeks, we will expand this section further to take you through specific examples of our support to response actors at the local, national and global level.

Image: Hygiene Hub support across the programme and policy cycle.

Sharing case studies on COVID-19 response programmes

This month, we share a new case study about how PAMSIMAS, a World Bank-supported programme to improve access to sustainable water supply and sanitation services for rural and peri-urban populations across Indonesia, was adapted to meet the needs created by the pandemic.

In this case study, the World Bank team reflects on how adaptations were made to PAMSIMAS-led workshops, training activities, home visits and construction work to ensure that the programme would limit rather than contribute to the spread of COVID-19. The study also outlines how the programme engaged closely with village authorities to tackle the new challenges posed by the pandemic together.

Image: A disability-friendly handwashing facility constructed in a school, Indonesia.

We also bring you a case study from Kenya where Project Hand Up developed a puppetry programme for use in mass media as part of a project led by Amref Health Africa.

‘Ask Dr Pamoja’ consists of three short puppet stories aimed at children and their caregivers and uses age-appropriate instructional approaches to combine entertainment with education about COVID-19 prevention behaviours. Each of the audio and video assets are translated into seven languages, including English, Swahili and five vernacular languages - Meru, Embu, Luo, Kisii and Luhya - to ensure maximum reach of the target audience. The programme has been broadcast on television, radio and social media, reaching an estimated 5 million children and 4 million adults every week.

Image: A puppeteer operating one of the main characters of the show ‘Ask Dr. Pamoja’. Pamoja means ‘all together’ in Swahili, highlighting that during the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone should come together to combat the virus.

Why not share your own experience with the sector?

Please contact claire.collin@lshtm.ac.uk if you would like to share your work and contribute to our collection of case studies. We are particularly keen to hear about programmes that incorporate advocacy, policy or sustainability components.

Social media channels

Follow us on Twitter @hygiene_hub, Facebook @covid19hygienehub and LinkedIn to get updates from the Hygiene Hub through our social media channels.

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