Handwashing has been established as a component to achieve proper hand hygiene and a range of health and development objectives. Since the publication of the previous Handwashing Handbook, which focused on national handwashing programs, efforts have shifted to addressing handwashing at all levels. Since then, practitioners have moved from implementing freestanding campaigns toward a greater focus on advocacy and more integrated programming.
The many key learnings from those experiences in scaling up handwashing include the need to create an enabling environment, the need to ensure long-lasting handwashing habits through appropriate behavior change approaches, and the need to go beyond communities, moving into other settings such as healthcare facilities and workplaces. The Handwashing Handbook aims to equip handwashing champions in government, civil society, private sector, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with resources and tools.
Equipped with these resources, handwashing champions can strengthen local systems to support handwashing, and use these tools for planning and implementing successful programs to change handwashing behavior in a variety of contexts. It is based on evidence that reflects the collective expertise of the Global Handwashing Partnership and aims to share lessons learned with a global network of handwashing champions. The Global Handwashing Partnership encourages a collaborative approach to handwashing programming and believes that actors from all sectors have a role to play in the advancement of hand hygiene uptake.