15 high-burden counties commit to end open defecation by 2025

Fifteen counties have signed a commitment to end open defection in their counties by the year 2025.

The 15 counties bear the largest burden of open defecation in Kenya and accounting for 85 per cent.

They include Baringo, Garissa, Homa Bay, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kilifi, Kwale, Mandera, Marsabit, Narok, Samburu, Tana River, Turkana, Wajir and West Pokot.

The 15 counties, mostly from the Northern region and Nyanza were mapped out to be having the highest number of households that lack toilets and still practising defecation in the open or in the bushes.

The drive dubbed the Kenya Sanitation Alliance designed to eliminate open defecation in Kenya by 2025 was launched by the government, Unicef and partners.

The Kenya Sanitation Alliance is led by the Ministries of Health and Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, together with the governments of 15 counties with the highest rates of open defecation.

It is funded by the Government of Japan and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Under the alliance, the county governments have committed to allocate and utilise a minimum budget of Sh10 million towards the elimination of open defecation for the financial year 2022/2023 and increase the amount to Sh2025.

“Open defecation has devastating consequences for public health, causing disease and death, especially among young children. If we end this practice, we will save lives and remove a barrier to education and economic opportunity,” Health DG Patrick Amoth said.

The counties have also committed to fully engage in conducting quarterly progress reviews with immediate effect to end the problem of open defecation by 2025 and to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all Kenyans by the year 2030.

Kenya is one of 26 countries globally that are responsible for 90 per cent of the world’s open defecation.

According to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, almost 85 per cent of this open defecation in Kenya takes place in the 15 counties.

“Every child has the right to health and dignity, and eliminating open defecation is a key way to ensure that they enjoy these rights. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the role of good hygiene – especially hand-washing in preventing the spread of disease,” UNICEF Representative to Kenya Maniza Zaman said.

The Kenya Sanitation Alliance, therefore, concentrates on involving decision-makers from these 15 most affected counties to drive forward action, review progress through a national mechanism and mobilise additional domestic resources.

Open defecation has particularly devastating effects on the health of children under the age of five, especially in rural areas where the practice is more prevalent.

In Kenya, over 6,600 children under five are estimated to die each year from diarrhoea, of which 80 per cent are attributable to poor water, sanitation and hygiene.

“Children and families in Kenya are entitled to proper sanitation and county governments are committed to delivering this, including in the arid and semi-arid land counties,” Council of Governors Chairman Martin Wambora said.

The Kenya Sanitation Alliance is also designed to help the country achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation, as well as the Kenya Vision 2030 to transform the country into an industrializing, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens in a clean and secure environment.

So far, only three counties have been certified as open defecation free; Kitui, Siaya and Busia.

Edited by D Tarus