Safe Hands Kenya (SHK) sought to provide protection against Covid-19 in a country where only 550 intensive-care-unit beds exist for 50 million people, and where over 90% of people in most counties lack proper hand-washing facilities.

SHK was driven by more than 30 private and public sector organizations to deploy free soap, hand-washing stations, and masks to the most vulnerable Kenyans, and to disinfect public spaces in low-income communities. Together, the companies used agile methods to design data-driven interventions, including a geospatial supply and a demand allocation map that bypasses traditional supply chain flows for quick crisis mitigation.

The alliance worked on every part of the value chain — from optimizing idle manufacturing to providing youth employment opportunities to consumer education — and each company agreed to forgo their profits to ensure vulnerable Kenyans had access to sanitation products at no cost.

As part of the Safe Hands Kenya program, a high-profile behavior change campaign, “Tiba Ni Sisi” (Kiswahili for “We Are The Cure”), was also designed and launched to motivate people to adopt and use the products and services effectively. By advocating for regular handwashing with soap, SHK sought to create public health benefits that pay dividends long after Covid-19.

THE IMPACT

Within the first 5 months, more than 550 jobs were directly created by the Safe Hands Kenya program within community-based organizations and through procurement of locally-sourced inputs. These locally-based jobs produced more than 123 tonnes of soap, 500,000 reusable masks, and distributed 1,750 locally-manufactured handwashing stations.

Safe Hands Kenya reached 2 million of the most vulnerable Kenyans with rapid mass sanitation products and services in the first few months of the pandemic. The “Tiba Ni Sisi” campaign also reached over 3 million Kenyans with messaging to inform people about the risks of coronavirus and to motivate them to adopt behaviors such as handwashing with soap, mask-wearing, and social distancing to reduce their risk of infection.

Notably, Safe Hands Kenya’s impact was recognized as an honoree by Fast Company as part of their 2020 Innovation by Design Awards.

Safe Hands Kenya concluded after four months of delivering life-saving products and information to the Kenyan people.

Safe Hands expanded to Tanzania in April 2021 as “Smart Hands Tanzania,” a public health program and messaging campaign rooted in combating WASH-related diseases, including Covid-19.

The Smart Hands Tanzania (SHTz) coalition was founded to address a number of pressing public health and socioeconomic issues. From poor housing conditions in low-income Tanzanian communities, to overburdened health facilities, to the rainy season onset, to economic fragility compounded by the ongoing global pandemic — separately and in combination, each factor makes low-income households particularly susceptible to disease outbreaks.

After Dalberg Catalyst received funding from Novo Nordisk, Dalberg Advisors and Dalberg Implement brought together private sector competencies and capabilities with philanthropic funding and public health expertise to respond to the growing challenges. SHTz is comprised of collaborators including CEOrt, PwC, AMREF, UNICEF, Prime Fuels, and Chemi COtex — this diverse group of actors aligned by focusing on rapid scalability, sustainability, and providing maximum impact while reducing margins.

The group’s approach consisted of two main components. First, philanthropic funding and corporate know-how was used to fund the manufacturing and deployment of WASH products at close to cost. Second, a locally-focused communications campaign drove awareness and behavior change around current sanitation practices.

THE IMPACT

Dalberg and the Smart Hands Tanzania coalition set out to reach two goals. The first focused on improving access to hygiene and sanitation products among low-income households in Dar es Salaam. In its first round of distribution, SHTz reached more than 78 public health facilities in the Ilala, Kinondoni, and Temeke districts and successfully distributed hygiene and sanitation commodities to 94% of low-income households in the Kinondoni and Temeke districts.

The second goal was to mobilize resources for procurement and distribution of hand hygiene and sanitation products at scale. Driven by this ambition, the SHTz program raised more than $145,000 USD and onboarded nine organizations to help support the effort. In response to a successful first round of distribution, SHTz completed a second round alongside a mass behavioral change communications campaign.

In the future, the Smart Hands Tanzania model can be adapted for other public health challenges. This proven approach illustrates how private sector actors and philanthropic funders can blend their respective capabilities, expertise, and networks together as a first line of defense in the fight against WASH-related diseases.