NGOs create awareness to flush the virus

 

Unicef Maharashtra along with partner NGOs conduct WASH and Toilet Management awareness program through #flushthevirus campaign.

The distressing situation in the slum settlements of Mumbai due to the increasing graph in number of COVID-19 patients with community toilets becoming the core place of the transmission left a key concern.

Triratna Prerana Manda (TPM), a community based NGO along with Citizens Association for Child Rights (CACR) partnered with UNICEF Maharashtra and crafted a unique campaign “Flush the Virus”. They conducted a baseline survey, the campaign extensively focused on 134 Community toilets and 16 BMC schools used as quarantine centres across the three Covid19 active hotspots of Mumbai, G/North (Dharavi), M/East, and H/East Wards and later moved to other MCGM wards as per the need.

The campaign 'flushthevirus' is in direct association with the slum communities and CBOs, the last component of civil service organisations at the grass-roots level who are working in their own communities with welfare activities for the community people. Thus, the campaign was to empower the CBOs with their toilet caretaker, MCGM schools on WASH and Toilet management in amid and post Covid19 pandemic.

The campaign helped to create a key behavioural change in the toilet users on respiratory hygiene, use of a mask and importantly the precautions taken while using the community toilets. The adequate support on disinfectants, cleaning materials and HWS helped sustaining the toilet in comparison to the pre-campaign position as per the baseline survey.

Through this campaign with different interventions like HWS installation at 134 CBO we were able to reach minimum 1,84,183 individuals. Through 187 CBOs we managed to reach minimum 2,15,183 individuals and under megaphone activity done at 100 CBOs we were able to reach 8,38,400 individuals.