Hygiene framework

This document sets out a framework for hygiene promotion and behaviour change in the countries where WaterAid works. It is based on the current literature on hygiene promotion and draws on our experiences in South Asia, the Pacific and Africa.

Professionals in the water and sanitation sector increasingly recognise the importance of hygiene in achieving the maximum benefit from improvements in water and sanitation services. A growing body of research highlights the positive impacts that practising good hygiene can have on the health of individuals and their communities, as well as various social and economic benefits. 

However, hygiene is frequently neglected in the water and sanitation sector, and in the health sector. Possible reasons for this may include the difficulty of changing people’s behaviour and the time required to do so, the difficulty in measuring behaviour and behaviour change, the personal and private nature of hygiene behaviour, and the fact that hygiene is related to neglected conditions: diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases – the two biggest killers of children. The difficulty of measuring behaviour has also likely led to under-investment in research on hygiene promotion and behaviour change.

The specific aims of this framework are:

• to establish a common understanding within WaterAid of hygiene promotion and associated terminology
• to highlight the importance of hygiene promotion in water and sanitation programmes and policies
• to give an overview of hygiene promotion approaches used in WaterAid country programmes
• to outline key principles and minimum commitments for WaterAid’s hygiene promotion work