The Truth About Hand Washing!

The uncomfortable truth about hand washing is that not everybody comes clean about it.

Read October's youth feature in Mailife Magazine (also published in Fiji Times October 20th) that uncovers some gruesome realities of hand washing practices in schools and in public places in Suva, Fiji.

This article was written by UNICEF Youth Mediactivists Sera Wilson (18), Jone Maiwiriwiri (19) and illustrated by Lino Lionel Colaitiniyara (17).

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Celebration of Global hand Washing Day ( GHWD) in Kiribati: The Power is in your hands, action song competition:

The Global Hand Washing Day 15 October, 2013 celebration was held at the KNYC Maneaba in Bairiki included an action song competition: Based on the guidance to display proper hand washing, groups of students (Primary School) from 11 schools sang loudly for everyone to hear about the need to wash hands with soap at critical times in order to stay healthy, demonstrating proper hand washing with buckets, water and soap. Action songs were prepared by the teachers and students for demonstrating proper hand washing with soap at critical times by highlighting the theme, “Power is in your hands” and in action song competition Temanoku School won the first prize while Dai Nippon school came second and Abaunamou school coming in third.

The lure of flush toilets and the rewards of patience

By Karen Allen, UNICEF Pacific Representative

I am in Malaita, Solomon Islands in a village. I am looking at a large, multi-layered concrete slab covering what I am not sure. On top is a concrete encased porcelain toilet bowl open to the elements. Of course it is full of rain water. Where are the walls and roof for this toilet? No wonder the UNICEF staff and community member look unhappy. Who built this toilet? Who is responsible for it? What is the story?

Toilet abandoned in a village in Malaita
with a concrete encased porcelain toilet bowl open to the elements.
© UNICEF Pacific/2013/Allen

Certificate ceremoney for UNICEF Youth Mediactivist Volunteers for WASH

"Volunteerism is the noble commitment to humanity," commented one of the Youth Mediactivists when asked why he volunteered to pack 6000 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) packets for UNICEF's WASH program.

UNICEF Youth Mediactivists for WASH with Isabelle Austin, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Pacific
© UNICEF Pacific/2013/Choi

Luxury latrines, VIP latrines and an active volcano

By Karen Allen, UNICEF Pacific Representative

My family did a lot of camping in East Africa when my kids were young… camping with no facilities except what we did for ourselves. This included giving a spade to our kids and telling them to dig, relieve themselves, then cover it up – the no latrine option. On one trip to watch rally car teams race around off-track, fundraising for rhino preservation, my ten year old daughter was fascinated to observe different camping arrangements. She came back to our camp site and complained, “Why can’t we do luxury camping?” “What is that?” I asked, genuinely puzzled what she could have seen amongst a bunch of rally car drivers and fans in the Kenya outback. “A latrine with canvas walls and a pot to sit on,” came the answer. She defined luxury in terms other people would find basic.

Mother of all challenges: Clean water on top of Tanna's steep volcanic mountains

By Karen Allen, UNICEF Pacific Representative

Side by side pumps in action
© UNICEF Pacific/2013/Allen

I have seen a lot of challenges during my 35 year career in Africa and Asia…but this was a new one for me: how to bring clean water to communities that live on top of steep volcanic mountains, in extremely dense, humid vegetation, but with near constant spewing of volcanic ash from an active volcano.

The Kiribati OneMinutesJnrs

The Kiribati OneMinutesJnrs. Watch the situations, challenges and opportunities facing children and youth in the pacific.

Health and Sanitation

UNICEF Pacific acts to make certain that children survive their earliest years and develop all the way to adulthood. UNICEF Pacific plays a key role in purchasing and distributing vaccines for children’s immunisation. The Health and Sanitation programme works in partnership with Ministries of Health, national and international organisations to strengthen health services and to improve water and sanitation facilities, guaranteeing child survival between and during humanitarian crises.