Lodwar – 17th May, 2024
County Health and Sanitation Department, in collaboration with LOKADO, has held a two-day consultative workshop on the WASH governance and sustainable water supply project in Turkana North and West Sub-counties.
The project intends to unlock the transformative potential of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services by ensuring sustainable access to clean and safe water supply and good nutrition.
So far, the joint WASH intervention by the County and LOKADO executed through Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) Friendly latrines has enabled hundreds of school going girls at Pokotom, Songot, Kaemongor and Napopongoit to enjoy safe disposal of sanitary towels and more time to engage in academic work.
Director for Public Health and Sanitation, Alfred Emanman, cited other WASH interventions such as Non-food Items distribution, rehabilitation of damaged and contaminated water sources and health promotion at community level as having directly contributed to resilience against communicable diseases for thousands of Turkana residents.
“The distribution of WASH NFIs’ such as water storage containers has improved storage safety of drinking water, reduced water contamination and significantly decreased possibility of disease outbreaks,” he said.
Acting County Public Health Officer, Lucas Edete, divulged that the County was reviewing it’s WASH strategies and action plans with a view of strengthening them to facilitate realization of more positive outcomes.
Executive Director of LOKADO, Augustine Lopie, mentioned that LOKADO said that the organisation had installed solarized water pumping systems that would enhance water accessibility and improvement on sanitation and hygiene.
“The MHM-friendly latrines for girls in schools will enhance safe disposal of sanitary towels hence proper waste management,” he said.
Water Quality, Control and licensing Officer, Water Resources Authority Joel Muli urged on the use of hydrological and hydrogeological survey, termed it as critical in ascertaining quality of water before installing solarized water pumps or boreholes as it assess chemical composition of water.
