Dubai Cares, through a partnership with UNICEF, Save the Children, and CARE International, supported the WASH-in-Schools Empowerment (WISE) program, which benefited 338,596 school children in Indonesia. The primary goal of the program was to improve children's wellbeing by integrating water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities and activities into primary schools. It aimed to develop and consolidate a model for the sustainable implementation and scaling-up of WISE interventions, thereby improving access to sanitation and encouraging the adoption of healthy behaviors among school-aged children.

The program focused on enhancing hygiene education and promoting appropriate hygiene practices at both school and community levels. It achieved this by training children and teachers and empowering schools to become “Centers of Excellence” for sanitation and hygiene, while positioning students as “agents of change.” Dubai Cares supported the construction of child-friendly, gender-sensitive WASH facilities using low-cost technologies and promoted sustainable maintenance. The organization also backed WASH education and awareness initiatives in schools and communities and worked to strengthen the capacity of school committees, local government bodies, and community structures to integrate and sustain WASH efforts in schools.

Additionally, Dubai Cares supported the development and implementation of a robust monitoring, evaluation, and documentation system, facilitated active learning exchanges, and contributed to a roadmap for scaling up successful interventions. To ensure the long-term sustainability of the program, six cross-cutting themes were emphasized: revitalization of the Usaha Kesehatan Sekolah (UKS) program, adoption of appropriate WASH technologies in low-cost settings, development of policies and governance for WASH in schools, promotion of hygiene, engagement of communities in supporting behavioral change, and the role of School-Based Management (SBM) in maintaining WASH facilities.