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WaterAid Ghana, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) focused organisation, has underscored the importance of regular handwashing with soap as one of the most effective and affordable ways to prevent infections and safeguard public health. It, therefore, urged Ghanaians to make handwashing a lifelong habit and part of the national culture, and to ensure that investment is made to encourage handwashing with soap under clean running water at all levels.
Speaking at a community durbar held at Chuchuliga in the Builsa North Municipality to mark Global Handwashing Day 2025, Ms Fauzia Aliu, the Advocacy, Campaigns and Inclusion Manager of WaterAid Ghana, said clean hands should not be seen as a privilege but as a basic right that every individual deserves.
Delivering remarks on behalf of Ms Ewurabena Yanyi-Akofur, the Country Director of WaterAid Ghana, Ms Aliu stressed that handwashing with soap at critical times, after using the toilet, before eating, and before handling food, remains a simple yet powerful action that saves lives. “Clean hands protect mothers and newborns, keep children in school, and uphold the dignity of every woman and girl,” she said, adding that “when we make handwashing a daily habit, we prevent infections and build healthier, stronger communities.”
The event, held under the theme, “Be a Handwashing Hero – Clean Hands Are Within Reach!”, formed part of activities under the Sexual Health and Reproductive Education (SHARE) Project, implemented by a consortium led by Right to Play in partnership with WaterAid Ghana, FHI 360, and the Forum for African Women Educationalists Ghana (FAWE-Ghana), with funding from Global Affairs Canada.
Ms Aliu explained that through the SHARE Project, WaterAid Ghana and its partners are integrating hygiene, menstrual health, and sexual and reproductive health education in schools and communities, while empowering youth and women’s groups to lead advocacy for hygiene financing and accountability. She commended traditional authorities, teachers, and students for their continued efforts in promoting handwashing and positive hygiene practices and called on households, schools, and health facilities to maintain handwashing facilities and ensure they are used consistently. “Being a handwashing hero means taking responsibility, ensuring that facilities like tippy-taps and Veronica buckets are not just built for show but are maintained and used every day,” she added.
The durbar, which brought together chiefs, queen mothers, women and youth groups, pregnant women, health workers, teachers, and students, among others, was organised in collaboration with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), the Builsa North Municipal Assembly, and the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
At the national level, the commemoration was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Works and Housing, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.
Mr Cabral Bantiu, the Builsa North Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Service, stressed that most of the cases recorded at various health facilities could be reduced through regular handwashing with soap under running water. He appealed to traditional authorities to use their influence to educate their subjects on the importance of handwashing, adding that a healthy population enhances productivity. Ms Herbertta Simpson, Senior Extension Services Specialist, speaking on behalf of Mr. Emmanuel Oppong, the Acting Regional Director of the CWSA, urged women to lead the handwashing campaign since they and their children are more vulnerable to infections.
Nab Francis Akambegmi Asangalisah II, Chief of Chuchuliga, commended the efforts to promote hand hygiene among his subjects but appealed for greater investment in maternal and child health, particularly the construction of a children’s ward for the Chuchuliga Health Centre.
