One WASH

One WASH promotes a common yet adaptable approach among National Red Cross Red Crescent Societies to establish large-scale, long-term sustainable water and sanitation programmes and to broaden its scope to prioritize its impact in cholera elimination, nutrition, provision of water for livestock, strengthening delivery of improved hygiene and in both rural and urban settings. This new, broadened initiative reflects our approach in integrating WASH and Health in a more sustainable solution to the holistic needs of vulnerable populations.

Every case and death from cholera is preventable with the tools we have today: effective cholera prevention and control interventions are well established. However, current efforts focus more on emergency response that have a minor impact on long-term control or elimination of cholera over time.

Guidelines and tools

Red Cross Red Crescent Guidelines and tools

One WASH brochures
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Implementing One WASH

One WASH focuses on 20 cholera-affected countries initially where National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are committed to the elimination of the disease. The strategy focuses on two main actions that are closely interlinked and operate in full alignment with the GTFCC cholera road map, the Global Water and Sanitation Initiative, and IFRC cholera strategy.

Improve preparedness, early detection, and response to contain cholera outbreaks

The One WASH programme will support communities to be well prepared for early response when an outbreak happens. It will support existing health care systems with community-based surveillance for early detection and monitoring of diarrhoeal outbreaks at the community level. It will also improve access to care by providing community level treatment through provision of oral rehydration therapy, setting up oral rehydration points and referrals of severe cases. Prevention activities such as water treatment, hygiene and health promotion are included as key parts of the approach to managing outbreaks. In addition, the approach will focus upon supporting local governments and partners with oral vaccination campaigns, as appropriate

A long-term integrated WASH approach to prevent cholera

One WASH will invest in sustainable long-term WASH programmes, increasing access to levels that will reduce and prevent cholera. Year-round health and hygiene behavior change communication and social marketing programmes will be implemented in communities, including advocacy and support to cholera vaccination campaigns. One WASH aims to improve access to safe water and adequate sanitation by constructing and rehabilitating facilities, as well as supporting the application of good hygiene practices and community water management. Hygiene behavior change interventions are delivered to ensure communities understand which hygiene practices may contribute to their increased risk of disease and which may play a preventative role.

Related Documents

External Guidelines and tools

The Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) brings together all multi-sector technical partners from around the world to support countries in their fight against cholera, offering an effective and well-coordinated platform whose secretariat is hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO). Launching the strategy titled Ending Cholera: A Global Roadmap to 2030, the GTFCC partners aim to reduce global cholera deaths by 90%. With the commitment of cholera-affected countries, technical partners, and donors, as many as 20 countries could eliminate disease transmission by 2030.

For more information regarding Global Task Force on Cholera Control

Learning resources​

External Learning resources

Resources and links
Other Cholera Resources

To include resources on this page, or for more information on IFRC initiatives please contact: wash.geneva@ifrc.org