People urged to wash hands to mark day

The National National
A student from Ward Strip Demonstration Primary School in NCD washing her hand following the handwashing steps. – Picture supplied

THE United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has urged people to wash their hands for 20 seconds at midday today to mark Handwashing Day.
Unicef’s Water Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) sector, with funding support from the European Union, is supporting the Government to encourage everyone to wash hands with soap for 20 seconds today.
According to a statement from Unicef, the Global Handwashing Day (GHD) campaign started on Oct 9 and ends on Oct 15.
The campaign has a range of activities centred on 200 schools with teachers and students pledging to support frequent handwashing at schools.
“The launching of a synchronised handwashing activity by students and teachers will start at 12 midday in which targeted schools will hold synchronised handwashing activities for students and teachers for 20 seconds,” according to Unicef in a statement.
This year’s Global Handwashing Day theme is Hand Hygiene for All.
It is aligned with the Hand Hygiene for All global initiative and aims to catalyse the momentum from the current Covid-19 pandemic.