Hygiene Promotion (HP) is a planned, systematic approach that enables people to take action and encourages behaviours or conditions that prevent or mitigate WASH-related diseases. It aims to support the dignity and well-being of emergency-affected populations. No WASH intervention, including SWM, should be undertaken without it. 

Hygiene Promotion’s emphasis on the importance of listening to affected communities and its use of dialogue and discussion provide a practical way of facilitating participation and accountability. It gives people a voice and involves them in making decisions about how the SWM programme is delivered (e.g. clarity about responsibilities, collection schedules, operation and management issues or the siting of disposal facilities). It is critical to the success of SWM – both to enable the positive participation of affected populations and to adapt SWM to the local context.  

Hygiene Promotion should be evidence based. Project teams should understand the enablers and barriers to behaviour change so that programmes focus on the provision of information and increasing knowledge and on working supportively with communities to understand how change can best be achieved. Hygiene Promotion therefore considers a broad range of determinants, including socio-economic, environmental and psychological barriers and enablers.

SWM-related behaviours that are commonly targeted include (1) reduction/avoidance of public littering, (2) carrying out (regular) clean-up campaigns, (3) reducing/avoiding waste, (4) waste segregation practices and (5) increasing recycling and reuse.

Assessment and Analysis

Before any intervention, the local context and the affected community’s different perspectives on SWM must be understood. This includes their current needs, vulnerabilities and capacities, perceptions and existing norms as well as leadership structures and priorities around SWM. The coping strategies of the communities and their capacities should be mapped out so that interventions address gaps in SWM facilities, services and behaviours. To prioritise and respond to diverse and changing needs it is vital to learn about current SWM-related practices and norms. To what extent and how is solid waste currently managed? Is there a history of segregating waste? What is happening now and what has changed as a result of the emergency? What do different people need and want (e.g. discrete disposal options for menstrual pads)? What are the priority risks? What are the skills and capacities of the affected community, local agencies or government departments? 

Not everyone is the same. It is recommended to identify different groups to work with in each context (e.g. youth, mothers and fathers of young children, women and girls, religious leaders, school children, canteen workers or market vendors). Tools and methods to gather assessment information include active listening, direct observations, Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) surveys, focus group discussions, transect walks and key informant interviews. The assessment results also provide a baseline for measuring progress at the end of an intervention or project (see also Monitoring below). Further information can be found in the ’Compendium of Hygiene Promotion in Emergencies’, a comprehensive compilation of relevant, sector-reviewed hygiene promotion tools, methods and underlying theories. 

Preconditions and Enabling Factors 

Preconditions and enabling factors are the resources, processes, services and infrastructural prerequisites that enable the SWM service and the associated practices and behaviours of an affected population. For an SWM hygiene promotion intervention to be effective, the affected population needs access to physical infrastructure (e.g. colour-coded waste bins for different types of waste to make segregation easier and waste collection points or recycling centres), access to products (e.g. soap, household bins, reusable menstrual pads, buckets or bags) and services (e.g. reliable waste collection with clearly communicated collection schedules). Enablers must be equitable, affordable and culturally acceptable. The infrastructure must be located close to where the target behaviours should take place (e.g. washing facilities and waste bins for menstrual waste placed inside the toilet stall). Ensuring that the infrastructure is accessible and well-maintained can significantly influence positive behaviour change; it is more attainable if a participatory assessment X.2 is completed before implementation. Preconditions and enabling factors need to be well understood. Not all factors will be present or feasible and humanitarian actors should be realistic about what is possible in their absence.

Community Engagement and Participation

Actively involving communities promotes shared ownership of good waste management practices and facilitates communities to participate in making decisions that affect their lives X.2. Depending on the community, this may require awareness-raising about the risks of improper waste disposal and the benefits of context-appropriate waste management practices. It may involve the strengthening of social norms for proper SWM, social support interventions and community capacity-strengthening to enable sufficient levels of participation, engagement and skills.

A variety of interventions can mitigate the immediate risks. It is part of the user engagement process for different groups to jointly identify what they can immediately do to improve SWM practices.  This may include community meetings, initial or regular clean-up campaigns, measures to facilitate direct action (such as the provision of tools for digging waste pits U.8) and providing equipment such as personal protective equipment for waste handlers X.4, handwashing facilities with soap, and household and community waste bins, ideally with (colour-coded) segregation options. 

Operation and maintenance requirements should be considered from the beginning with community involvement through, for example, the formation of committees or user groups. For SWM at a household, community or institutional level, a feeling of ownership and management responsibility is critical for the continued functionality of the services. However, communities can become easily overwhelmed and overloaded by committees and user groups, so the setting up of committees must be well coordinated within the WASH sector and adjacent sectors. A recommended solution is to set up cluster-based committees rather than one for every single intervention.

A variety of methods and tools can be used to motivate different groups to take action to improve, use and maintain facilities and services effectively for women and men, people from different age groups and those with different abilities. Further guidance on appropriate tools can be found in the ’Compendium of Hygiene Promotion in Emergencies’. 

It is essential to work closely with others involved in the response, especially the government, international, national and local WASH actors and other relevant sectors. Collaboration facilitates the timely delivery of services, enables participation, reduces duplication and helps prioritise interventions. 

Joint clean-up campaigns are common in SWM programmes. In consultation with the population and responsible local authorities, periodic cleaning of streets, public spaces and common areas may be necessary to ensure a hygienic environment. Such clean-up events also encourage collective action; they reactivate and remind the public to participate in neighbourhood cleanliness as a civic duty and citizen responsibility. 

Social and Behaviour Change 

Social and behaviour change aims to understand the barriers and motivators for change and to enable individuals and communities to practise consistently healthy behaviours. Strategies to trigger and motivate change draw on a variety of factors and focus on the individual as well as the preconditions and enabling factors. It is important to find out what is potentially stopping individuals and community groups from acting (the barriers and obstacles to improved SWM) and to find out what help they need, if any. By conducting surveys and differentiating between doers and non-doers and users and non-users of facilities, the drivers that motivate action can be identified. 

Behaviour change campaigns can help to highlight desirable norms, create peer pressure, ignite motivation and encourage individuals and communities to adopt behaviours such as regular waste segregation, proper disposal and recycling. Examples include recycling centres in the community where members can see the recycling process and understand its importance; model neighbourhoods where best practices for waste management are demonstrated and can be replicated in other areas; specific planning interventions that enable participants to incorporate intended practices into their daily routines and overcome barriers; or waste management education incorporated into school curricula to instil good practices in children from a young age. These campaigns focus on changing attitudes, social norms, efficacy beliefs and self-regulation processes related to waste management. They support community initiatives and help people to be motivated and motivate each other to adopt sustainable waste management practices.

Communication 

Communication facilitates hygiene promotion through active listening, information exchange and guidance and advice to target audiences, enabling them to develop positive hygiene behaviours and practices. Active listening is a vital component of communication; listening, rather than simply providing information, should be the starting point.  Key messages can be communicated in different ways and are broadly divided into participatory and mass communication: 

Participatory communication is based on dialogue, involvement and interaction; it aims to understand the perspectives of the affected community and tailor interventions to their specific situation. It can also encourage communities to play an active and influential role in decisions that affect their lives. Conducting community meetings or focus group discussions are good examples of engaging with community members. Training community leaders, health workers, and volunteers in best practices for waste management and hygiene can amplify the impact of these efforts. Equipped with knowledge and skills, these individuals can lead by example and disseminate information effectively. Organising street dramas or role-playing exercises is another engaging way to interact with the community and portray the consequences of poor waste management and the benefits of proper practices. Social media platforms can also be used to share success stories, tips and reminders about proper waste management.

Mass communication disseminates information and key messages to large numbers of people rapidly and cost-effectively but it is mainly one-way communication with limited feedback options. Commonly used mass communication tools include Information, Education and Communication materials such as posters, billboards, flyers, radio, television or text messages. Posters and flyers can be used to provide clear, visual instructions on how to segregate waste, the importance of recycling, the dangers of improper waste disposal or as visual reminders at spots where the intended behaviour should take place. Public announcements may also be useful using local radio stations, megaphones or loudspeakers to share important messages about waste management.

Where possible, social media and messaging apps can be used as online communication platforms to reinforce SWM-related hygiene messages and behaviours and provide critical information to the target audience. They can help combine the benefits of participatory and mass communication. 

No single method is guaranteed to be effective; a mix of different methods and communication channels tailored to different target groups is advisable.

Waste management messaging can also be linked to broader health initiatives to enhance understanding and compliance – for example by integrating messages about waste management with those about handwashing and safe water use. Messages should always be aligned with information from the Ministry of Health, Water, and/or Environment, including specific messages in HP campaigns about the risks, opportunities and best practices in the different waste streams. Hygiene Promotion interventions should be implemented along with practical activities in communities and schools.

Monitoring and Feedback

Regular monitoring of waste management practices and providing feedback to the community helps sustain behaviour change X.3. Recognising and rewarding good practices can motivate continued adherence to proper waste management. Competitions between neighbourhoods can be organised for those who can achieve the highest levels of cleanliness and waste segregation, with rewards or certificates for the winners.

It is also important to establish channels for community members to report issues with waste management services and to suggest improvements through mechanisms such as complaint boxes, hotlines or apps X.3. Humanitarian actors should also keep track of rumours that might be detrimental and respond to these as soon as possible by, for example, incorporating them into discussions with community groups or providing information.