Concern Universal and Carex Soap are running a month-long campaign that promises to be the biggest celebration of Global Handwashing Day the world has ever seen! We aim to reach 1 million school children in Nigeria, thousands more in the UK, and millions of people around the world with fun and creative activities to promote effective handwashing.

At events across Nigeria and the UK, children will be empowered as ‘Hygiene Heroes’ - handwashing promoters in their schools, families and communities - and will also compete to show that they have the ‘CareX Factor’! This talent competition enables children to get creative about hand washing by performing their own version of our campaign anthem recorded by Nigerian music star Sunny Neji. The winners of each event, judged by a panel of local leaders, will compete against other regional winners at the grand finale on Global Handwashing Day itself for fantastic prizes and the chance to perform with Sunny Neji and his band.

How to get involved

We are asking you to join us in making a song and dance about handwashing! We want you - schools, companies, social groups and individuals - to come up with your own song and dance interpretation of Sunny Neji's ‘Wash your hands O’, record it and post it to our Facebook page with the hashtags #WashYourHandsO & #GlobalHandwashingDay to help spread the campaign's message, showcase your talents and also stand a chance to win fantastic prizes! You can see what others have done already to get ideas, post your own video and challenge your friends to do the same, and also vote for your favourites and share them with your friends.

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Concern-Universal-NIGER...3178213493/timeline/

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCkfOo_sqbk5YnBdy9ShIZkw

Concern Universal is co-ordinating this campaign as part of a wider five-year initiative we are implementing, Rural Sanitation & Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (RUSHPIN), which is empowering 2 million people living in rural communities in the country's South-East to sustainably improve their sanitation and hygiene practices. Although funded by the UN's Global Sanitation Fund, unlike most donor projects, the Government of Nigeria is the driving force behind the initiative and has committed to matching the UN's funds to reach twice as many people. Information about the Global Sanitation Fund is available at: www.wsscc.org/global-sanitation-fund/

Dear Hanna,

I emailed you (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) on 25 July for some hygiene advocacy publications that target decision-makers, government functionaries, NGOs, and community leaders, in terms of how to sensitize them, and achieve behavior change, in developing countries.

I'm sorry, but you never responded.

F H Mughal

Dear Hanna,
Thanks for this information. By the way, the link that you had provided was not working correctly (due to the fullstop at the end), but I have fixed it now (I am just mentioning this in case anyone had tried the link and found it not working).

I was wondering what you meant with "Raise a Hand for Hygiene" as a theme. It's actually more of a "slogan", right?
I read on your page this explanation:

This theme is action-oriented and can be used particularly well for advocacy purposes. For instance, the act of raising a hand is one of affiliation. You can and should identify yourself as a hygiene champion. This can help create a strong social norm of good hygiene in a school, community, or region. Likewise, when people raise a hand, they can also be counted. In terms of handwashing, this is a reminder that it is possible for governments to count how many people wash their hands and have access to hygiene facilities in homes, schools, and healthcare facilities. Governments must measure hygiene indicators to know where resources should be concentrated. Global Handwashing Day is a good opportunity to ask governments to fulfill this important role. We can also raise a hand to draw attention to the need for change, from parents’ associations raising a hand to ask for a better school hygiene policy to celebrities raising a hand to ask politicians to fund hygiene programs.

Now would also be a good time to update the Wikipedia page on Global Handwashing Day:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Handwashing_Day

Another editor has actually condensed the content of this page, see also the talk page here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Global_Handwashing_Day

Regards,
Elisabeth

It's official! The theme for Global Handwashing Day 2015 is Raise a Hand for Hygiene. Learn more and get links to our updated Planner's Guide here:
us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=45e6f3033a5...cf29d1&id=7b1b46a13b

October 15, Global Handwashing Day, is quickly approaching! The Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing is in the process of updating its Planner's Guide -- a tool for individuals, groups and communities to use to both learn about handwashing and to plan Global Handwashing Day events.

This year, we will be translating the updated guide into at least one language besides English, and want your input. What language(s) would be most useful to you? Please complete this brief survey to let us know!