15-10-2021 | di COOPI

Ecuador. COOPI celebrates Global Handwashing Day with UNICEF in Quito

In the framework of the project "Improved conditions of access to protection and security for children and adolescents in the context of human mobility and their families in transit and/or residing in Ecuador - PHASE 2", COOPI - International Cooperation and UNICEF, with the support of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration of the United States (BPRM), develop several actions in the context of Global Handwashing Day.

Washing hands is a daily gesture for most people around the world. However, washing with soap and water is not so common, as there are still barriers to accessing clean water and hygiene supplies, such as soap, around the world. Not washing hands or using soap carries the risk of spreading infectious diseases, which is why this practice is essential to prevent, for example, the spread of COVID-19. The importance of washing hands with soap and water is therefore fundamental to disease prevention, and is the key to maintaining good health and quality of life for millions of people around the world.

In six provinces of Ecuador (Carchi, Imbabura, Sucumbíos, Guayas, Manabí and El Oro), COOPI is working on health promotion and socialisation days to inform about COVID-19 prevention and good hand hygiene practices through the ¡Lávate-te Lávate Las Manos! campaign. In this way, the population in human mobility is the beneficiary of these activities and receives adequate information and respective hygiene and biosecurity inputs to deal with the pandemic.

In addition, COOPI, together with UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), is leading the national process of the global Hand Hygiene for All (HH4A) initiative in Ecuador; it is currently establishing in Ecuador, with the guidance of the Ministry of Public Health, the comprehensive roadmap linking national preparedness and response plans to COVID-19 with medium and long-term national development plans in order to ensure that hand hygiene is a pillar of government programmes. This initiative aims to guide efforts to emphasise hand hygiene in all sectors and settings, coordinating voices and driving collective action.