Hygiene promotion for men : challenges and experiences from Nepal : paper presented at the South Asia Hygiene Practitioners Workshop, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1 to 4 February 2010

Effective hygiene promotion reduces the main risky hygiene practices and conditions for women, children and men. To be effective, each member in the community should be involved. Everyone working on hygiene promotion will agree with this. Inclusive hygiene promotion is recognized widely: all gender groups, women, children and men have to be included in hygiene promotion activities. However, most hygiene promotion programmes focus on women only. Specific examples on how men are targeted are difficult to find.Involving men and encouraging their responsibility in hygiene and sanitation improvements is important for many reasons. For example, men have a key role in decision making; often control finances; have an important role to play in family and community health improvement; can help reduce the burdens borne by women; and men can be role models to others in the community. Men who are well informed on the benefits of hygiene improvement for their family are more likely to support their wives and children and to change their own behaviors.In this paper we use the experience of NEWAH, a national NGO based in Nepal, as a case to describe the challenges, but also the benefits and the lessons learned while focusing hygiene promotion on men.