NGOs, media to zoom in on the state of hygiene in southern Africa
WaterAid, Oxfam and World Vision will host critical discussions with the media about the hygiene and WASH sector in the region on 11 August at the Safari Resort and Conference Centre in Windhoek.
The press conference is aimed at giving greater prominence to the urgent need for action to improve hygiene in the SADC region.
According to the organisers, WaterAid in an invitation, the briefing on the State of Hygiene in Southern Africa is being held along the SADC Summit to enable us to get the necessary attention from the policy-makers from the different countries.
“This will be an opportunity for journalists and media representatives from across the region to discuss and interrogate issues of hygiene,” they said in a statement
According to the organisers, the effects of poor hygiene are fast becoming increasingly urgent to address.
WaterAid has a strategic focus on hygiene and intends to increase recognition and resourcing of hygiene in the region through a region-wide campaign to influence political priority, financing and improved coordination for sustainable hygiene behaviour change.
Recently WaterAid commissioned a study of the State of Hygiene in ten countries in southern Africa (i.e. Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe).
The study was undertaken was to gather evidence regarding: The status of hygiene practice in the region; the enabling environment and institutional arrangements for the promotion of hygiene behavior change; and key policy and programme bottlenecks for the prioritization of hygiene.
Meanwhile, the State of Hygiene report documents the reality with regards policy, funding, coordination and leadership for hygiene across ten countries in Southern Africa.
