Without good hygiene practices, such as toilet use, handwashing with soap, water treatment, food hygiene, and menstrual hygiene, the benefits of other poverty reduction strategies will be undermined, and human dignity will be compromised.

The State of Hygiene in Southern Africa study was commissioned to gather evidence regarding: the status of hygiene practice in the region; the enabling environment and institutional arrangements for the promotion of hygiene behavior change; and key policy and programme bottlenecks for the prioritisation of hygiene.

This document summarises the key findings of the study in terms of practice and policy inclusion of each of the five key components of hygiene, as well as the main bottlenecks identified in the enabling environment for hygiene.

The five hygiene components covered are:

• Sanitation use
• Handwashing with soap
• Household drinking water treatment
• Food hygiene
• Menstrual Hygiene