Clean Faces, Clean Environment Phase 4
Ethiopia,
ongoing
Clean Faces, Clean Environment – A Path to Sustaining Trachoma Elimination aims to reduce trachoma prevalence below the WHO threshold of 5% in the Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.
The Clean Faces, Clean Environment – A Path to Sustaining Trachoma Elimination project contributes to trachoma elimination by reducing trachomatous inflammation–follicular (TF) prevalence below the WHO threshold of 5% through integrated facial cleanliness and environmental improvement interventions across six zones and 49 woredas in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia
The project represents WASHTRA’s fourth phase, building on earlier trachoma elimination efforts in Ethiopia and shifting from disease control toward sustainability, systems strengthening, and long‑term behaviour change at scale.
Clean Faces, Clean Environment will run from January 2026 to June 2030. It is supported by The Fred Hollows Foundation and Australian Aid and will be implemented in partnership with Oromia Regional Health Bureau .
The challenge
Trachoma is a contagious bacterial eye infection, which is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. It causes severe eye pain, scarring of the inner eyelid, and potential blindness if left untreated. It is primarily transmitted through direct contact with contaminated discharges.
Despite Ethiopia’s progress toward trachoma elimination, the disease remains a public health risk in areas where hygiene behaviours, sanitation services, and environmental conditions are not consistently maintained. Without sustained behaviour change and strong local systems, elimination gains risk reversal.
The approach
The Clean Faces, Clean Environment – A Path to Sustaining Trachoma Elimination project addresses the behavioural and environmental drivers of trachoma transmission by strengthening facial cleanliness practices, improving household and community environments, and reinforcing institutional WASH systems.
A key component of the project is the social and behaviour change communication, covering community and school‑based materials, behavioural prompts, and coordinated branding to reinforce hygienic practices and local ownership.
The approach places strong emphasis on gender equity, social inclusion, and disability‑responsive programming, recognising that women, girls, and people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by eye health and WASH barriers.
The project aligns with SNV’s Climate Resilient Rural WASH (CRRWASH) and systems transformation, embedding community‑led behaviour change, institutional capacity strengthening, and resilient WASH service delivery to sustain elimination outcomes. Within the CRRWASH approach, we work with local partners to achieve a sustainable WASH service delivery system across rural areas, aiming to leave no one behind.
Systems transformation is applied by embedding facial cleanliness and environmental improvement interventions within government‑led health, WASH, and education systems, strengthening institutional capacity, coordination, and accountability at community, woreda, and regional levels to ensure sustainable impact beyond the project period.
Anticipated project outcomes
Reduce TF prevalence below 5% through sustained Facial Cleanliness and Environmental Improvement behaviours
Strengthen community and institutional WASH systems to sustain trachoma elimination
Scale evidence‑based SBCC approaches for hygiene and environmental health
