A PROGRAMME FUNDED BY the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Water Challenge is set to transform the lives of about 90,000 schoolchildren in Siaya district in Kenya's Nyanza province.
The children, spread over 300 primary schools, will now have access safe water and sanitation and enjoy better hygiene.
In the next five years, the programme, known as SWASH+ (Sustaining and Scaling School Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Plus Community Impact) will identify, develop, and test innovative school-based water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in the province. In addition, the programme will provide valuable information on the costs and benefits of school water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.
A consortium made up of the NGOs CARE, Water Partners International (WPI) and their local implementing partner Sustainable Aid in Africa International (SANA), the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA), the Centre for Global Safe Water at Emory University (CGSW), and the Global Water Challenge will implement an applied research study and government-led upgrading over the next five years.
In the first three years of the SWASH+ programme, 300 teachers will learn to treat their school water supply with chlorine and hand washing stations will be installed. In this project, sanitation will be improved in 180 schools.
Teachers will also establish school health clubs and teach students appropriate hygiene techniques. In addition, community members will participate in developing new water points in 60 communities where there is no water supply in the school.
From the third year, consortium partners will support the government of Kenya to bring best practices fully to Nyanza Province.
It is estimated that more than 3,700 primary schools in the province require safe drinking water and hygiene facilities, and more than 35,000 school latrines are required throughout the province to meet government recommended standards.
The programme will determine whether school-based projects can provide a platform for increasing permanent access to these services. If these techniques are proven effective at the provincial level, the best practices will be replicated for national implementation.
Globally, more than one billion people lack access to clean water and more than 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation.
In Nyanza province, it is a different problem. Although there is enough water in the province it is either contaminated or polluted.
Drinking this water contributes to the highest diarrhoea rates in Kenya, accounting for some 20 per cent of deaths in children under five.
Access to good quality water is one of the most serious problems here - often ranking higher than food, education or health when villagers are asked about their needs. Often water sources such as lakes, rivers and small local reservoirs are several hours' walk from homes. The water is also often unsafe.
SWASH+ was developed from a pilot initiative funded by Coca-Cola East and Central Africa Ltd. The initiative began in 2005, when locally-based NGOs set up a school-and community-based water, sanitation, and hygiene education project.
In January 2006, a working group of partners from the pilot initiative, potential donors, key government ministries, Unicef, the World Bank Water and Sanitation Programme, and international and Kenya-based NGOs met in Kisumu to discuss lessons learned from this pilot initiative. The meeting also focused on determining next steps in broadening the project.
Representatives of the Kenyan Ministries of Education, Water, and Health committed themselves to participate in expanding the programme to provincial level, and to help identify methods that could be used to implement it nationally.
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to reduce inequities and improve lives around the world. In developing countries, it focuses on improving health, reducing extreme poverty and increasing access to technology in public libraries. In the United States, the foundation seeks to ensure that all people have access to a good education and to technology in public libraries.
In its home area, it focuses on improving the lives of low-income families. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Patty Stonesifer and co-chairs William H. Gates Sr, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates.
The Global Water Challenge is an initiative to save lives and reduce suffering in the developing world by providing safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education to people who lack these basic services.
The children, spread over 300 primary schools, will now have access safe water and sanitation and enjoy better hygiene.
In the next five years, the programme, known as SWASH+ (Sustaining and Scaling School Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Plus Community Impact) will identify, develop, and test innovative school-based water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in the province. In addition, the programme will provide valuable information on the costs and benefits of school water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.
A consortium made up of the NGOs CARE, Water Partners International (WPI) and their local implementing partner Sustainable Aid in Africa International (SANA), the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA), the Centre for Global Safe Water at Emory University (CGSW), and the Global Water Challenge will implement an applied research study and government-led upgrading over the next five years.
In the first three years of the SWASH+ programme, 300 teachers will learn to treat their school water supply with chlorine and hand washing stations will be installed. In this project, sanitation will be improved in 180 schools.
Teachers will also establish school health clubs and teach students appropriate hygiene techniques. In addition, community members will participate in developing new water points in 60 communities where there is no water supply in the school.
From the third year, consortium partners will support the government of Kenya to bring best practices fully to Nyanza Province.
It is estimated that more than 3,700 primary schools in the province require safe drinking water and hygiene facilities, and more than 35,000 school latrines are required throughout the province to meet government recommended standards.
The programme will determine whether school-based projects can provide a platform for increasing permanent access to these services. If these techniques are proven effective at the provincial level, the best practices will be replicated for national implementation.
Globally, more than one billion people lack access to clean water and more than 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation.
In Nyanza province, it is a different problem. Although there is enough water in the province it is either contaminated or polluted.
Drinking this water contributes to the highest diarrhoea rates in Kenya, accounting for some 20 per cent of deaths in children under five.
Access to good quality water is one of the most serious problems here - often ranking higher than food, education or health when villagers are asked about their needs. Often water sources such as lakes, rivers and small local reservoirs are several hours' walk from homes. The water is also often unsafe.
SWASH+ was developed from a pilot initiative funded by Coca-Cola East and Central Africa Ltd. The initiative began in 2005, when locally-based NGOs set up a school-and community-based water, sanitation, and hygiene education project.
In January 2006, a working group of partners from the pilot initiative, potential donors, key government ministries, Unicef, the World Bank Water and Sanitation Programme, and international and Kenya-based NGOs met in Kisumu to discuss lessons learned from this pilot initiative. The meeting also focused on determining next steps in broadening the project.
Representatives of the Kenyan Ministries of Education, Water, and Health committed themselves to participate in expanding the programme to provincial level, and to help identify methods that could be used to implement it nationally.
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to reduce inequities and improve lives around the world. In developing countries, it focuses on improving health, reducing extreme poverty and increasing access to technology in public libraries. In the United States, the foundation seeks to ensure that all people have access to a good education and to technology in public libraries.
In its home area, it focuses on improving the lives of low-income families. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Patty Stonesifer and co-chairs William H. Gates Sr, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates.
The Global Water Challenge is an initiative to save lives and reduce suffering in the developing world by providing safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education to people who lack these basic services.
