Whitehall Manufacturing, along with the two dozen divisions and partners that make up the Morris Group International family, enthusiastically commemorate this Global Handwashing Day, and we encourage you to join us.
We have always advocated for the importance of washing hands regularly with soap and water, but during this pandemic, hand washing has become a more urgent matter. We feel it is especially important to honor this campaign in order to raise awareness of the discrepancies in the availability of basic hand washing facilities and materials worldwide.
We recognize that we come from a place of privilege, having easy access to soap and clean water. Others are not so fortunate:
- Only 60% of the world’s population has access to a basic hand washing facility.
- In the world’s least developed countries, only 28% of people have access to basic hand washing facilities.
- There are currently 17 countries where more than 10 million people lack hand washing facilities.
- The availability of soap and water at hand washing facilities varies substantially. In Ethiopia, for example, only 0.1% of households had soap and water available, compared to 91% in Iraq.
- Only 34% of people living in rural areas have access to a basic hand washing facility.
- For the approximately 15% of the world’s population that has a disability, accessing WASH facilities is often their most significant challenge of daily life.
*See the Global Handwashing Day Fact Sheet for more information and statistics
Get Involved!
We encourage you to learn more and help us bring much needed attention to this important issue. Here are a few Global Handwashing Day (and every other day) resources you may find helpful!