Leading global health organizations have unveiled a groundbreaking analysis outlining what donors, national governments, and the private sector need to invest to accelerate progress for menstrual health and hygiene (MHH). The report, Making the Case for Investing in Menstrual Health and Hygiene, is part of a growing effort to advance gender equality and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Tuesday, 28 July, marks the 10th anniversary of the recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation!
@WASHStrong takeover: How do human rights strengthen systems?
On this day, @RealiseHRWS and @sanwatforall will take over the @WASHStrong twitter account to discuss how human rights contribute to strengthening WASH systems. We will share local and global approaches from Making Rights Real and Sanitation and Water for All.
The takeover will take place from 8am to 8pm Central European Time / 11.30am to 11.30pm India Standard Time / 2am to 2pm US Eastern Time.
Join us! https://twitter.com/WASHstrong
10 years after the human rights to water and sanitation were first recognised and with 10 years to go until the promise of SDG 6 should be fulfilled, we want to use this day as an opportunity for everyone to share their experiences of applying human rights to their own work.
Joins us if you…
– Have used human rights and it has helped to improve WASH systems
– Have questions on how human rights are relevant to WASH systems change
– Want to see what experiences other have made
We hope for a lively exchange among practitioners in this space!
See you there
Hannah (WASH United/Making Rights Real), Manishka (SWA), Alec (Agenda for Change)
New publication by Amnesty International and WASH United.
All UN Member States have recognised that the human right to water and the human right to sanitation are part of binding international human rights law.
This publication gathers the evidence of the universal recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation: it gives an overview of the most important resolutions and declarations that recognise the human rights to water and sanitation, including the positions that individual states have taken when those documents were adopted. For 77 countries, it also lists their individual positions and how these have changed over time.
The document has previously served as an internal reference guide for Amnesty International and WASH United. We are publishing it to help others identify the position that their country has taken on the human rights to water and sanitation, to advocate for the rights in their own national contexts, to ensure that these rights will not be ignored in the formulation and implementation of national water and sanitation laws and policy, and to help advance strategic litigation before national, regional and international justice mechanisms.
Gonzalez, C., Khalfan, A., Lande, L. van de, Neumeyer, H. and Scannellad, P., 2015. Recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation by UN Member States at the international level : an overview of resolutions and declarations
that recognise the human rights to water and sanitation. London, UK and Berlin, Germany: Amnesty International and WASH United. 124 p.
Available from WASH United website and Amnesty International website
Posted in Policy, Publications
Tagged Amnesty International, right to sanitation, right to water, WASH United
Photo: WASH United
Handwashing and menstrual hygiene were promoted at a major global sports event, thanks to a partnership between WASH United and the International Cricket Council (ICC).
WASH United raked in Indian cricket superstar Suresh Raina to become their brand ambassador at the ICC World Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, which was held from 16 March to 6 April, 2014, in Bangladesh.
Suresh Raina and tournament mascot Happy the Hand-washing Tiger vow to “bowl ou diarrhoea”. Photo: WASH United
“If women can have moustaches we can all talk about menstruation”. With this message WASH United kicked off May MENSTRAVAGANZA, a 28-day campaign to raise awareness and break the silence around menstruation and menstrual hygiene.
Messages are posted on the campaign website:
wash-united-may-menstravaganza.tumblr.com and
on Twitter using hashtag #MENSTRAVAGANZA
WASH United is one of the 12 finalists in Ashoka’s Changemakers ”Changing Lives Through Football” Competition.
Set up by set up by German NGO Brot für die Welt, WASH United uses the power of football to catalyse social change and engage top international and African football stars as role models to promote safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for all in Sub-Saharan Africa leading up to and following the 2010 World Cup.
“Winning the competition would not only mean to raise the profile of our campaign, but also help to fund our work for safe drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for all people, everywhere”, says WASH United.
Winners are eligible to win a total of USD $90,000 in prizes, including a US$ 30,000 first prize for the global winner, and US$ 10,000 each for the three regional winners.
Winners will be announced on 25 August 2010.
Vote here for WASH United.
Voting closes on 18 August 2010.
Read more about the competition.
Related news: WASH United: football superstars join campaign, Source Weekly, 23 Jun 2010
Tagged Ashoka Changemakers, competitions, finance, WASH United
Footballer Jonathan Pitroipa in Burkina Faso. Photo: WASH United
Hamburger SV football player Jonathan Pitroipa played the “World Toilet Cup” game in his home country of Burkina Faso where he launched the WASH United campaign on 4 June 2010. First introduced in November 2009 during the second Africa Water Week in Johannesburg, South Africa, the “World Toilet Cup” game makes a symbolic effort at tackling the sanitation crisis in Africa by trying to kick as many brown “poo balls” as possible into latrines and toilets.
WASH United is an initiative set up by German NGO Brot für die Welt linking international organisations with football stars like Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben to promote safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. In the campaign, leading up to the 2010 World Cup, WASH United focuses on promoting safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for all in eight countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Mali, Lesotho, Uganda and Tanzania.
In addition to activities in the WASH United target countries, there are also targeted activities taking place in Europe to raise awareness for the importance of water and sanitation among the general public and political decision makers.
Besides WASH related games like the “World Toilet Cup”, WASH United has developed promotional posters and Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for radio and TV. There are briefing papers for each target country aimed at decision makers, and there is a curriculum (consisting both of classroom materials and football-based games) that uses the power of football and the role model status of the football stars.
WASH United’s international partners include not only sector organisations like WaterAid, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and the World Toilet Organizations but also football clubs like FC Bayern München (strategic partner), Hamburger SV and Juventus Turin. WASH United is financially supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
To join WASH United, either as an individual or an organisation go to www.wash-united.org
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