WASH from the START*

WAter, Sanitation & Hygiene

in Early Childhood Settings

Judith T. Wagner, Ph.D.

Deputy President, World OMEP

Professor of Child Development and Education

Whittier College, Whittier CA

*An OMEP Initiative with UNICEF since 2011

Highlights from 2014 OMEP World Assembly, Cork Ireland, July 2014

Preview of Coming Attractions:

• What’s OMEP?

• What’s WASH from the Start?

• Rationale for WASH from the Start

• Progress to date – some examples

• Summary of 2014 OMEP World Assembly: Next Steps for WASH from the Start

What is OMEP?Organisation Mondiale pour L´Éducation Préscolaire Organización Mundial para La Educación Preescolar World Organization For Early Childhood Education

Founded in 1948 the wake of WWII: Peace-building from cradle up

Consultative status with UNESCO and the UN (NGO #11)

Now oldest and largest international organization dedicated to the wellbeing, health, rights, and education of young children, their families, and the institutions that serve them.

National Committees and members in more than 70 countries!

“After research on the internet and consultation with my parents, teachers, and elders in the village, I realised we could clean our school water together.”

Rosslyne Waiyigo Kiragu 2010 OMEP ESD Grant Winner

WASH from the START Initiative

Exactly what is it?Anything and everything we can do

-- individually and collectively --to improve young children’s access to

water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Why focus on WASH in the early years? The Problem

1. A child dies from a water-related cause every 21 seconds! That’s 6,000 children every day!

2. Infants and young children, especially girls, are disproportionately affected.

3. Water-borne illnesses: second leading cause of death for children under five.

Lack of clean water and sanitation

Source BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hipicture_gallery05africa_getting_water_in_africa/html/1.stm

Women and girls walk hours a day to fetch water -- often unclean.

From Problems to Possibilities: WASH before School-entry Age

Attitudes, behaviors, and automatized habits form during first years. May be resistant to change later.

Basic practices for handwashing and toileting will already be established and, hopefully, coupled with one another

Children will arrive at primary school healthier ready to contribute better able to learn Improved outcomes for WinS, School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE), and EFA

Wash from the Start: HOW? Adapt WASH in Schools (WinS) materials for use with younger children in preschool, home, and community

Create new age-appropriate materials and activities

Incorporate WASH into our work with children, parents, and teachers.

Document participation in Global Handwashing Day (October 15) and other WASH activities

Create WASH partnerships: preschool to preschool/ Primary school to preschool.

Why focus on adapting WinS?

WASH in Schools (WinS) has so much welldocumented success.

Let’s build upon it.

WASH is so successful with older children.

Imagine…What will happen if WASH from the START

becomes part of all young children’s experience before they reach school-entry age!

WASH from the START

Three-year WASH program: “Wiślana kropelka” (A Vistula Drop) Kindergarten No. 41

OMEP UK-Kenya Preschool Partnership

Global Handwashing Day Beach Party in Benin

Goals and Commitments:2014 OMEP World Assembly

• Include WASH from the Start in letters to national leaders urging early childhood as a priority in the post-2015 agenda

• Global Handwashing Day in all 70 countries. Send photos to national websites and World OMEP website.

• Add WASH activities to the preschool curriculum throughout the year

• Incorporate WASH into teacher-education curricula

• Continue to seek funding for pilot projects and research.

Thank you !

Judith T. Wagner, Ph.D.

Deputy President, World OMEP

Vice President, North American and Caribbean

jwagner@whittier.edu