In The Field

The Wiggles and UNICEF release handwashing song and video

Freya Lucas

Oct 16, 2019

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A new song designed to motivate millions of children around the world to wash their hands, written and sung by perennial children’s favourites The Wiggles, was released yesterday for Global Handwashing Day, highlighting the 2019 theme “Clean Hands for All”.

As Ambassadors for UNICEF Australia, The Wiggles said they want to help raise awareness that handwashing with soap is “an easy, effective and affordable way to prevent illness and diseases, and save lives”.

Speaking about the release, Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins said "Music can make early life lessons enjoyable whilst being educational at the same time. We hope our ‘Handwashing Song’ will help to make handwashing fun for children and those caring for them and stop germs spreading to keep everyone healthy.”

Washing hands with soap before eating and after using the toilet can help reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal diseases, which are a major killer of children in developing countries, by almost 50 per cent. Every day, around 800 children under the age of five around the world die from preventable diseases caused by poor water, and lack of sanitation and hygiene.

UNICEF Australia CEO Tony Stuart said, “Teaching children the importance of handwashing is a critical building block in good hygiene practice that can not only create healthier futures, it can save lives. UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) team works in over 100 countries worldwide to improve water and sanitation, and to ensure that children practice basic hygiene including handwashing. Last year, UNICEF’s programs helped provide 18.6 million people with access to safe drinking water and 10.8 million people with access to basic sanitation.

To watch the video for the Handwashing Song, see here. The song can be listened to here, and those wishing to print a copy of the lyrics can find them here. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit their website, or follow UNICEF on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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