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Note from the field: A case study on improving governance and accountability in primary schools in Kenya
01.07.2013
WASH infrastructure at schools in Kenya has not kept pace with increasing student enrolment since the government introduced free primary education in 2002. Nyanza is one of the regions with low coverage in schools, with a deficit of more than 80 per cent of required water and sanitation facilities. While many agencies, including governments, have come up with school-based intervention programmes that alleviate the situation in the short term, sustainability has been a challenge as has monitoring, which is often centralized with little delegated authority at the local level. This paper looks at an innovative approach to delivering WASH services to schools, SWASH+, which piloted a model of devolved monitoring that also addresses sustainability issues. -
Sanitation and physical disability: challenges to latrine access in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya
01.04.2015
Access to sanitation services such as provision of latrines is one way of preventing diarrhoeal related infections and promoting public health. Provision of and accessibility to latrines for people with physical disabilities in Kakuma refugee camp has, however, been faced with many challenges. We used traditional anthropological research methods such as in-depth interviews and participant observation to explore some of the challenges faced by people with disabilities in accessing and using latrines. We found that fear of contracting diseases, shame, and lack of resources to construct latrines, as well as technological design, hinders disabled people from accessing latrines in the refugee camp. Lack of latrines for disabled people compounds their vulnerability and there is need for a deliberate effort to mitigate this. The agencies dealing with latrine provision and funding need to explore ways of reducing this vulnerability, brought about by a lack of sanitation facilities that are technologically adaptable to their needs.