Handwashing with soap is the most effective and inexpensive way to
prevent diarrhoeal and acute respiratory infections, which take the
lives of millions of children in developing countries every year.
Together, they are responsible for the majority of all child deaths.
Yet, despite its lifesaving potential, handwashing with soap is seldom
practised and difficult to promote. The challenge is to transform
handwashing with soap from an abstract good idea into an automatic
behaviour performed in homes, schools, and communities worldwide.
Turning handwashing with soap before eating and after using the toilet
into an ingrained habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or
medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhoea by almost half and
deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter. A vast change
in handwashing behaviour is critical to meeting the Millennium
Development Goal of reducing deaths among children under the age of five
by two-thirds by 2015.
Global Handwashing Day is observed every year on 15th October every year in an effort to raise awareness of handwashing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention. As a campaign it aims to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap. Although people around the world wash their hands with water, very few wash their hands with soap at the critical occasions. More handwashing with soap means lower rates of infectious disease: Clean Hands Save Lives! Initiated in 2008 by the Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap (PPPHW). Members of the PPPHW include the World Bank and Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), host of the PPPHW; the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Procter & Gamble; Unilever; the Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC); the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM); Johns Hopkins University (JHU); and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Global Handwashing Day is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organizations, NGOs, private companies and individuals around the globe.
Global Handwashing Day is observed every year on 15th October every year in an effort to raise awareness of handwashing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention. As a campaign it aims to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap. Although people around the world wash their hands with water, very few wash their hands with soap at the critical occasions. More handwashing with soap means lower rates of infectious disease: Clean Hands Save Lives! Initiated in 2008 by the Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap (PPPHW). Members of the PPPHW include the World Bank and Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), host of the PPPHW; the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Procter & Gamble; Unilever; the Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC); the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM); Johns Hopkins University (JHU); and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Global Handwashing Day is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organizations, NGOs, private companies and individuals around the globe.
Women play a critical role in the rural economies of both developed and
developing countries. In many parts of the world, agriculture is the
first sector of employment for women, for instance in Sub-Saharan Africa
and in South Asia, where respectively 68 per cent and 61 per cent of
working women are employed in agriculture. Rural women, mainly farmers,
are at least 1.6 billion and represent more than a quarter of the total
world population. Women produce on average more than half of all the
food that is grown: up to 80 per cent in Africa, 60 per cent in Asia,
between 30 and 40 per cent in Latin America and Western countries. Women
own only 2 per cent of the land, and receive only one per cent of all
agricultural credit. Only 5 per cent of all agricultural extension
resources are directed to women. Women represent two third of all
illiterate people. The number of rural women living in poverty has
doubled since 1970. The United Nations’ (UN) International Day
of Rural Women directs attention to both the contribution that women
make in rural areas and the many challenges that they face. It also
celebrates and honours the role of rural women on October 15 each year.
It recognizes rural women’s importance in enhancing agricultural and
rural development worldwide.
History - The International Day of Rural Women was first celebrated as an official UN observance on October 15, 2008. This day recognizes the role of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty. The idea of honouring rural women with a special day was put forward at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in 1995. It was suggested that October 15 be celebrated as “World Rural Women’s Day,” which is the eve of World Food Day, to highlight rural women’s role in food production and food security. “World Rural Women’s Day” was previously celebrated across the world for more than a decade before it was officially a UN observance.
Events - Many people, government agencies, community groups and non-government associations celebrate the International Day of Rural Women on October 15 every year. Television, radio, online, and print media broadcast or publish special features to promote the day. Panel discussions, research papers, and conferences are also held to review and analyse rural women’s role in society, particularly in areas such as economic improvement and agricultural development.
History - The International Day of Rural Women was first celebrated as an official UN observance on October 15, 2008. This day recognizes the role of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty. The idea of honouring rural women with a special day was put forward at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in 1995. It was suggested that October 15 be celebrated as “World Rural Women’s Day,” which is the eve of World Food Day, to highlight rural women’s role in food production and food security. “World Rural Women’s Day” was previously celebrated across the world for more than a decade before it was officially a UN observance.
Events - Many people, government agencies, community groups and non-government associations celebrate the International Day of Rural Women on October 15 every year. Television, radio, online, and print media broadcast or publish special features to promote the day. Panel discussions, research papers, and conferences are also held to review and analyse rural women’s role in society, particularly in areas such as economic improvement and agricultural development.
