HIP is part of the next generation of USAID’s environmental health projects. HIP is designed to work at scale, focusing on behavior change to improve child health outcomes. The project is working at scale by engaging multiple stakeholders and partners from different sectors, using a variety of interventions, and integrating hygiene into health and non-health programs such as HIV/AIDS, nutrition and food security, and education. HIP offers USAID programs new tools, approaches and a behavior-centered focus to reduce diarrheal disease.
HIP intends to reduce diarrheal disease morbidity by improving three hygiene practices: proper hand washing with soap or acceptable substitute, safe disposal of feces, and safe storage and treatment of drinking water at point of use. HIP’s behavior change strategy requires addressing all three components of USAID’s Hygiene Improvement Framework (HIF): accessing hardware, products and technologies; promoting hygiene; and creating an enabling environment.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Safewater
The Safe Water System (SWS) is an intervention that employs simple and inexpensive technologies to improve water quality. The purpose of SWS is to make water safe through disinfection and safe storage at the point of use.
The SWS intervention consists of three components:
- Point-of-use treatment of contaminated water using sodium hypochlorite solution purchased locally and produced by a local manufacturer or in the community from water and salt using an electrolytic cell;
- Safe water storage in containers with a narrow mouth, lid, and a spigot to prevent recontamination; and,
- Behavior change techniques, including social marketing, community mobilization, motivational interviewing, communication, and education. These activities increase awareness of the link between contaminated water and disease, and of the benefits of safe water, and hygiene behaviors.
- CDC/Safewater Website.
Point-of-use Water Disinfection and Zinc Treatment (POUZN)
The goal of the POUZN project is to expand the long-term, sustainable, commercial availability of zinc and POU to reduce mortality and morbidity from diarrhea. Project implementation will be done through social marketing projects and public-private partnerships. POUZN has limited core funding for USAID missions interested in starting a new mission activity that will include POU or zinc products. Two awards were made to allow missions to address both manufacturing/commercial sector and social marketing needs.
Population, Health and Environment (PHE) 
Population, health and environment (PHE) projects acknowledge and address the complex connections between humans, their health, and their environment. The key objective of these projects is to simultaneously improve access
to health services while also helping communities manage their natural
resources in ways that improve their health and livelihoods and conserve
the critical ecosystems they depend upon.
Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing
USAID’s objectives for the support of this initiative are to: reduce the incidence of diarrheal diseases in poor communities through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) promoting handwashing with soap; and implement large scale handwashing interventions and use lessons to promote the approach at global level.
In addition to USAID support, other organizations that contribute to the Partnership include the World Bank, the Water and Sanitation Program, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the private sector in collaboration with UNICEF and the Bank-Netherlands Water Partnership. Partnerships have been established in Ghana, Nepal, Peru, and Senegal.
USAID Supported Environmental Health Activities 
