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How Unicef is helping those in the hardest-to-reach places during the coronavirus pandemic

Educating people to make the most of their water resources, to safely wash their hands, is an important message

Charlotte Hodges

Saturday 28 March 2020 10:44 EDT

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

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1/13Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

Two girls wash their hands with water from recycled bottles at a rudimentary hand-washing station at La Montana School, Bolivia. Similar hand-washing stations are in use in all schools in areas where water has become scarce

Unicef/Ashley Gilbertson VII Photo

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

Using a Unicef-supported water point, a woman and her husband wash their child outside their home in the village of Abdoya in Djibouti. Abdoya is in a remote zone, with a desert-like climate, and is home to hundreds of families who live with only a few natural resources

Unicef/Shehzad Noorani

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

Despite major issues of water scarcity in Jordan, Mahmoud is able to wash his hands and face using a storage tank provided by Unicef. He lives in the Baqa’a camp with his parents, brother and sister. The family are refugees from the Palestinian territories

Unicef/Sebastian Rich

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

Children in India are taken outside to wash their hands before they receive their mid-day meal. A healthcare worker ensures they are washing their hands correctly

Unicef/Ashima Narain

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

A child in Malawi uses sanitiser and a tippy tap – a device for hand washing that is operated by a foot lever

Unicef/Bennie Khanyizira

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

In the Domiz camp for Syrian refugees, in northern Iraq, a girl helps her brother to wash his hands with water from a tap. More than 30,000 refugees currently live in the camp

Unicef/Salam Abdulmunem

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

Children wash their hands at Escola Vila Verde in Timor Leste using a facility donated by Unicef

Unicef/Helin

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

During a household visit in a Sudanese village, a community health worker demonstrates how to wash hands using soap and water

Unicef/Shehzad Noorani -

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

A girl from the Warao community in Venezuela learns how to wash her hands correctly

Unicef/Roberto Montico

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

Pedrina Toj Sucup teaches her son, Sergio Romeo Toj Sucup, how to wash his hands in the community of Santa Ana Panquix, Guatemala

Unicef/Willocq

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

During their break, schoolgirls at Snor Kley school in Cambodia apply the good practices of hand washing they have learned, using water from the school's water and sanitation facility

Unicef/Bona Khoy

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

Access to basic sanitation has continued to improve in the Kamwenge district of Uganda

Unicef/Zahara Abdul

Hand-washing in the world's hardest-to-reach places

In Indonesia, a group of children in primary school sing a song about hand washing and the importance of cleanliness

Unicef/Shehzad Noorani

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As the coronavirus continues to spread, Unicef is reminding the public of the importance of hand washing as a key preventive measure, and urging renewed efforts around the world to provide access to this most basic of health interventions.

According to the latest estimates, 40 per cent of the world’s population, or 3 billion people, do not have a hand-washing facility with water and soap at home, and nearly three quarters of the people in least developed countries lack basic hand-washing facilities.

About one in six healthcare facilities have no hand-hygiene facilities at the point of care, or soap and water in toilets.

As well as being without basic access to hand sanitation, many children lack education about the coronavirus, and psychological and social support.

You can donate to Unicef’s work during the pandemic here

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