A sum of US $10.5 has been allocated in funding by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) for construction of water and sanitation infrastructure in six counties in Kenya.
The country’s Water Sector Trust Fund (WaterFund) will redistribute the funding among six arid and semi-arid (Asal) counties including Garissa, Lamu, Marsabit, Isiolo, Tana River and Turkana. Each area will receive about US $1.3 million to expand its water supply system as the counties experience a prolonged drought that is undermining people’s livelihoods.
The funding agreement was signed between the Chief Administrative Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Andrew Tuimur and Elizabeth Matioli, the Program Officer at the Danish Embassy in Nairobi.
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Scope of project
“This funding is in addition to the US $30.74M already provided by the Danish government to provide water services to eight counties in Kenya. The ministry is urging the six selected counties to move quickly to commit and sign a memorandum of understanding with the WaterFund, contributing 10% in cash and 5% in kind of about 150 million Kenyan shillings allocated to each county,” says Elizabeth Matioli.
According to the Andrew Tuimur, the chief administrative secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, the Kenyan government will choose between water service providers, local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations or a consortium of different partners to carry out the work.
The new project in Kenya also includes a sanitation component. The Kenyan government’s goal is to increase the country’s sanitation rate to 40% by the end of 2022 from the current 20%. The launch of the program for sustainable management of, and access to, water and sanitation in Kenya is scheduled for July 2022. The work will extend until 2027.