Samvaad, the peace-building programme took Global Handwashing Day to the children of different communities to mobilize and motivate children to improve daily hygiene practices. Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) is an important component of the Samvaad programme for the welfare of the communities. Global Handwashing Day was observed on 15 October 2022 with children to inculcate the habit of hand washing with soap in day-to-day life.

Meerut Seva Samaj, Karuna social work society-Bijnor and Suchetna – Bareilly Diocese and Agra Diocese urged children and community members to regularly wash their hands and highlighted how crucial it is to maintain hygiene and good health. All three partners observed the Global Day of Handwashing in the community to create awareness of hand washing and shared its implication for good health and cleanliness. Besides this, different groups were promoted to take initiative in spreading the message of basic hygiene by demonstrating seven steps of handwashing to eradicate various kinds of lethal disease-causing germs.

Public events and functions not only create awareness and sensitization but also bring together different people to a common platform who believe in a common vision. Samvaad always looks towards such opportunities to knit threads of different communities into a single unit.

Global Handwashing Day became a perfect opportunity to bind different groups such as children, youth, CBO members etc. into one unit. Communities were sensitized to such protocols which helps reduce the death rate of children due to poor sanitation and hygiene. Since the inception of the pandemic, lots of awareness was created on hand wash and this has helped in beating COVID-19 and bringing hygiene into our daily routine. Children who attended the program learned the basic gestures of handwashing and they came to know how we need to rub hands with soap twenty times with proper movement of fingers, palms and hands which will add value to their health and happiness. At this moment the children pledged that handwashing will be a part of their daily life and they will continue it for better health and hygiene practices.

The children also learned to mandatorily wash their hands before eating food or likewise after coming from the toilets. Everyone must wash their hands for preventing themselves from diseases. Children from schools and madrasa attended the program and happily learned the handwash techniques.

Samvaad in its initial phase promoted the WaSH component in the communities where cleanliness was the key message for the community members, so the Global day for handwash was observed with all the programme participants to continue cleanliness for better health along with promoting peace in the communities for the holistic development with social integration.