The County Directorate of Public Health and Sanitation has called for additional funds to intensify its sanitation efforts at the community level.

This comes after Turkana County joined the rest of the world in celebrating Worlds Toilet Day, marked every November 19th.

This year’s celebrations themed, “Accelerating change by doing whatever you can”, brought into focus the collective small actions that drive significant positive impact.

In Turkana County’s case, the community-led total sanitation (CLTS) activities have led to 1174 villages being certified as open defecation-free, 52%, which translates into a saving of Sh 560 million allocated to address sanitation-related challenges.

Speaking at the Lokori celebrations, Director of Public Health and Sanitation Alfred Emanman urged the community members still sharing latrines with their neighbors to build their own.

“The Department will collaborate and work closely with the County Assembly to allocate additional resources towards the hygiene and sanitation activities,” he said.

Through CLTS, community engagement is at the center of creating awareness of the importance of sanitation and hygiene. It involves innovative solutions and technologies for enhancing sanitation and hygiene initiatives, such as using locally sourced materials to construct latrines.

“Let us persist in our collaborative effort, embracing the use of latrines, to forge a cleaner and healthier Turkana County,” added Director Emanman.

The celebrations were also held in Kakuma, Kibish, Kalokol, Lokitaung, Lorugum, and Lokichar in collaboration with USAID NAWIRI, Peace Winds Japan, International Rescue Committee, IsraAID, Team and Team International, ADRA Kenya, World Vision Kenya, Catholic Relief Services, Practical Action, Kenya Red Cross and Feed the Children.