Hygiene & Behaviour Change Coalition partners launch project to support Ethiopia’s COVID-19 containment efforts

Addis Ababa, June 26, 2020 (FBC) -Hygiene & Behaviour Change Coalition (HBCC) Partners have launched a Hygiene & Behaviour Change Project to support the Government of Ethiopia contain the spread of COVID-19.

Senior officials from Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Ministry of Health and Ethiopia Public Health Institute attend the virtual launching ceremony.

The project aims to run mass media and interpersonal communications campaign to enable change in hygiene behaviour as well as install hygiene facilities at critical locations.

It also provides hygiene materials and advocate ‘Tsidu Ethiopia’ to help sustainably prevent the public from similar contagious diseases, according to a press release WaterAid Ethiopia sent to FBC today.

Yaekob Metena, Country Director of WaterAid Ethiopia, said “Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) is the first line of defense to prevent the public from contagious diseases like COVID-19, and hence WaterAid remains focused to continue to develop WASH facilities in Ethiopia while it advocates for more resources to WASH sector development.”

Ekin Ogutogullari, Country Director of Save the Children said: “Save the Children’s work on hygiene focuses on institutionalizing simple and low-cost hygiene standards that can revolutionize health systems and significantly reduce infections. I am certain this project will demonstrate that in our intervention areas where the risk and rate of COVID 19 infection is already high.”

The project, funded by DFID and Unilever, will be reaching tens of millions of people with hygiene behavior change messages and gets implemented in all the regions and city administrations of Ethiopia.