Handwashing with soap is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrheal and acute respiratory infections, which take the lives of millions of children in developing countries every year. Together, they are responsible for the majority of all child deaths. Yet, despite its lifesaving potential, handwashing with soap is seldom practiced and difficult to promote.

The challenge is to transform handwashing with soap from an abstract good idea into an automatic behavior performed in homes, schools, and communities worldwide. Turning handwashing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter. A vast change in handwashing behavior is critical to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths among children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015.

Global Handwashing Day 2009 will revolve around schools and children. On Global Handwashing Day, playgrounds, classrooms, community centers, and the public spaces of towns and cities will be awash with activity to drive handwashing behavior change on a scale never seen before, bringing the critical issue to center stage.

Global Handwashing Day will be the centerpiece of a week of activities that will mobilize millions of people in more than 70 countries across all five continents to wash their hands with soap.

Of the approximately 120 million children born in the developing world each year, half will live in households without access to improved sanitation, at grave risk to their survival and development. Poor hygiene and lack of access to sanitation together contribute to about 88% of deaths from diarrheal diseases, accounting for 1.5 million diarrhea-related under-five deaths each year. Children suffer disproportionately from diarrheal and respiratory diseases and deaths. But research shows that children – the segment of society so often the most energetic, enthusiastic, and open to new ideas – can also be powerful agents of behavioral change.

In Indonesia, more than 1.5 million children, teachers, health practitioners and religious leaders across 33 provinces will receive kits with messages on handwashing with soap, issued by the Ministry of Health. On 15 October, students and teachers in Jakarta will participate in rallies to promote handwashing with soap in areas like train stations and traditional markets. In South Sulawesi, over 20,000 children will participate in a one-day session on the health benefits of handwashing with soap, while in Papua 3,500 school children will have lots of fun by taking part in jingles, poetry, drawing, and quiz competitions on handwashing with soap.