19 April 2013: The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) of the World Bank has launched a handwashing with soap toolkit to assist development practitioners in improving public health by promoting behavioral change. According to the World Bank, handwashing with soap is one of the most efficient tools to prevent diseases, such as diarrhea and acute respiratory infections, particularly among children.

Organized in four models, the toolkit: addresses the theory of change to explore what drives behavioral change; emphasizes the need to incorporate sustainability from the very start of intervention activities; describes how to integrate handwashing programmes into existing hygiene programmes; and offers a compilation of resources and publications already used by WSP’s Global Scaling Up Handwashing project to promote learning among experts. Examples enabling behavior change include mass media, direct consumer contact and interpersonal communications strategies.

The toolkit is being implemented in Peru, Senegal, Tanzania and Viet Nam. Better sanitation practices also were addressed at a side event to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings. The event, titled “A matter of Life: Investing in Sanitation- a Conversation,” featured World Bank experts. [World Bank Press Release] [A Matter of Life Event Video] [Handwashing With Soap Toolkit Model]