Hand Washing Day October 15th

Celebrated annually on October 15, Global Handwashing Day was founded by the Golbal Public –Private Partnership for Hand washing, and is an opportunity to design, test, and replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times.

Global Handwashing Day is designed to:

Ø Foster and support a global and local culture of handwashing with soap

Ø Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing around the world

Ø Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap

The first Global Handwashing Day was held in 2008, when over 120 million children around the world washed their hands with soap in more than 70 countries. Since 2008, community and national leaders have used Global Handwashing Day to spread the word about handwashing, build sinks and tippy taps, and demonstrate the simplicity and value of clean hands.  Each year, over 200 million people are involved in celebrations in over 100 countries around the world. Global Handwashing Day is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organizations, NGOs, private companies, and individuals.

The 2016 Global Handwashing Day theme is “Make Handwashing a Habit!” For handwashing to be effective it must be practiced consistently at key times, such as after using the toilet or before contact with food. While habits must be developed over time, this theme emphasizes the importance of handwashing as a ritual behavior for long-term sustainability. Habit formation is currently a hot topic in behavior change and the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector. This theme taps into that interest and is also a gateway to discussing what the sector knows about how habits are formed. Similarly Hand Washing Day was also celebrated in Gaupel Lower Secondary School with the theme “Make Hand Washing a Habit”. The steps and instruction for hand washing were browsed from the internet and shown to students practically.