Developing a costed national hand hygiene roadmap in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is one of the first countries in the world to develop a fully costed national roadmap to achieve hand hygiene by 2030. This case study outlines Ethiopia’s experience and valuable insights into developing the costed roadmap together with multiple partners including WaterAid.

In Ethiopia, it is estimated that 92% of the household population, 42% of healthcare facilities, 84% of primary schools and 71% of secondary schools don't have a basic handwashing facility with water and soap. The Government of Ethiopia used detailed hygiene costing tools – developed by WaterAid and WHO/UNICEF – to cost hygiene-related activities, including hardware for households, schools and healthcare facilities, behaviour change activities and government staff costs. This led to the development of a comprehensive costed roadmap that allows the government to plan and allocate funding and advocacy for hand hygiene over the next ten years.

This case study outlines Ethiopia's experience and lessons learned during the development of the roadmap, including information about the costing tools used. The process to develop the roadmap consisted of:

• Consultations with core partners including WaterAid, WHO and UNICEF
• Ministerial-level lobbying and discussions to give the Ministry of Health ownership of the initiative
• Costing sessions to establish conceptual framework, activities and indicators
• Consultations with ministers and officials for feedback and endorsement

This case study report is intended to help other country governments and development partners to take lessons and use the costing tools for their own customised costed roadmaps.

Top image: Tigist, 7, washes her hands at the new taps at her school in West Gojjam, Amhara, Ethiopia.