According to the Joint Monitoring Programme, over 620 million children globally do not have access to sanitation at school and 900 million children lack hygiene services at school. The lack of facilities and hygiene education in schools is detrimental to the health and education outcomes of children, and to address this issue, Sesame Workshop (SW), the world’s largest informal educator, and World Vision (WV), the largest non-governmental provider of clean water in the developing world, established WASH UP! to deliver a life-saving WASH initiative by infusing WV’s local networks and rural WASH infrastructure programs with SW’s engaging, research-driven content. WASH UP! is built on the tenet that school-based WASH interventions can generate broad public health benefits as well as non-disease outcomes, such as school attendance and gender equality. Since 2015, the initiative has expanded to 15 countries across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and content themes have expanded beyond traditional WASH messages to include neglected tropical diseases, inclusive WASH, and menstrual hygiene.

Learn more about what makes Wash Up! so innovative in the UVA Darden School of Business’s Ideas to Action article.