First National Annual Conference on Sanitation & Hygiene
Held on 1st April to 3rd April 2014 at KICC, Nairobi, Kenya.
Ministry of Health
Context
A significant portion of Kenya’s disease burden is caused by poor personal hygiene, inadequate
sanitation practices and unsafe drinking water. Approximately 19,500 Kenyans, including 17,100
children under the age of five years, die each year from diarrhoea1. Diarrhoea prevalence for
under-5’s remains at 17% nationally, but disproportionately affects the poorest people in the
population [DHS, 2009]. 35% of children in Kenya suffer from moderate to severe stunting
[SOWC, 2013]. Childhood stunting, which can affect both educational and long-term productivity
outcomes, has been linked to poor sanitation and in particular open defecation practices. With
over 5.8 million Kenyans still defecating in the open [JMP 2013], the prevalence of diseases
such as diarrhoea, amoeba, typhoid and cholera will continue to persist unless drastic action is
taken. In addition to the health and nutrition effect, poor sanitation is expensive. Kenya loses
an estimated KES 27 Billion (365 million USD) each year, which is 1% of national GDP, due to
poor sanitation. Open defecation itself costs Kenya US$88 million per year. A county-wide
benchmarking report showed that counties are losing millions of shillings due to poor sanitationyet eliminating open defecation would require much less money in enabling house-holds to build
and use latrines.
The Call to Action
Sanitation is now a constitutional right in Kenya. The right to sanitation embodies:-availability,
accessibility, quality, and use. This responsibility rests on the shoulders of the County
Government. The Government of Kenya is also obligated to respect, protect and fulfil these
rights. Towards this end, the Government and partners launched a campaign in May 2011 aimed
at eradicating Open Defecation (OD) in Rural Kenya by 2013. This was as a result of successful
piloting of the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach by sector players from 2007.
Through the campaign, an additional 1 million Kenyans have gained access to basic sanitation
and 2 sub counties have attained Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. Whereas the campaign
has realized great gains, open defecation is still practiced in Kenya. If the current rate (0.75%) of
increasing access to sanitation is maintained, it will take Kenya 100 years to achieve the MDG
targets and 133 years to attain universal access to sanitation. If the country is to meet its MDG
and Vision 2030 targets, this rate must be increased to 5%.
In view of this, the Ministry of Health organized the National Sanitation Conference to spur action
towards accelerating access to improved sanitation for all Kenyans in the context of the
devolved system of government.
Conference Theme and Objective
The theme for the conference was “accelerating access to improved sanitation under
devolution: making the right a reality.” The main objective was to spur action by both national
and county governments to accelerate access to safe sanitation in Kenya. The specific
objectives were:
1) Advocating for increased focus on sanitation by county and national government and sector
players, specifically addressing financing and capacity resource gaps
2) Ensuring that county planning is aligned towards attaining national targets and country
commitments
3) Networking and knowledge sharing by sanitation stakeholders in strengthening learning
and an enabling environment
Conference Format
The conference was conducted over a 3 day period in which the first 2 days had a focus on
experience sharing, knowledge/ skills building and county planning. On the third day the focus
was on getting commitments for the implementation of the county plans. Several keynote
addresses were given that advocated for this commitment.
1Report
of the Global Hand washing Day in Kenya, 2012
County Participation
This conference marked a turning point for Kenya as she seeks to make the right to sanitation a
reality. County governments hold the key to making this happen. It was of great importance that
counties actively participated in this conference, as it accorded them the opportunity to better
serve their people. County Governors, County Executive Committee( CEC) Members for Health,
and County Public Health Officers are expected to attend.
Conference Highlights
 The conference was officially opened by the cabinet secretary for Health Mr. Wainaina
Macharia who also launched the national improved sanitation campaign
 All 47 counties were represented. 30 CECs attended, mostly from health but some from
water. A total of 285 participants attended the 3 day conference
 9 exhibitors from NGOs in WASH as well as private sector players in sanitation took up
exhibition stands at the conference
 The thematic sessions of the conference dealt with issues that emerged during an
enabling environment bottleneck analysis carried out by 44/47 counties.
 Themes covered during sessions included financing sanitation, monitoring and
evaluation, sanitation marketing, WASH in emergencies, Post-ODF sustainability, BCC in
sanitation, Sanitation in the devolved system of government and capacity development.
 All counties developed actions for the next 1, 3, 6 and 12 months.
 Several CECs committed to supporting sanitation in their counties through prioritising
financial and human resource allocations, scaling up and resourcing M+E to provide
better data and performance contracting on sanitation.
 CECs also committed to seeking Governor endorsement for county specific sanitation
support specifically setting aside budgets for financing CLTS and sanitation marketing.
 The CEC chair requested that the outcomes of the meeting be presented to the national
council of Governors and the PS advised the CECs to get sanitation onto the agenda of
the inter-governmental forum.
 The thematic sessions, planned actions and commitments made at the conference are
closely aligned with Kenya's National commitments to be made at the 2014 HLM
(financing, monitoring, devolution of policies, capacity). Hopefully this alignment, with
both national and county governments working in the same direction will secure sector
progress in the near term.
 The conference was officially closed by the principal secretary for health Prof. Fred
Segor who reiterated the national government’s commitment to accelerating access to
sanitation improvement across the country.