Decentralised Sanitation for Decent Livelihoods in Rural and Peri Urban Areas in the Global South

The global sanitation crisis is a critical barrier to climate resilience and economic development. 4.5 billion people worldwide lack access to safely managed sanitation, and in Kenya, 17 million lack basic sanitation, leading to an estimated national economic loss of US$324 million annually.

This side event celebrates the successful completion and operationalization of the ‘Improving Public Health and Enhancing Technical Skills of Youth in Kenya through Sanitation Technology Transfer Project’, which achieved its goals with a strategic investment from African Development Bank. The project successfully deployed cost effective decentralised sanitation; SATO Pan Pit Latrines and Green Toilet Systems (GTS) Dehydrating Toilets, and faecal matter treatment facilities across four pilot counties (Kisumu, Kitui, Tharaka Nithi, and Kajiado).

The event will convene global leaders and financiers to present the proven model and underscore the critical need for immediate, sustained investment to achieve:

1. Climate Adaptation: Positioning these dry toilet systems as the scalable, climate-smart solution that secures health and water in vulnerable communities.
2. Scaling-up: Replicating the success model across all 47 counties in Kenya and identified regions in Africa and the Global South.
3. Livelihood Creation: Training an additional 10,000 youth and women as decentralized sanitation entrepreneurs.

Programme:

Opening & Agenda Setting (5 min):

• Elvis Songa, Kenya Water Institute

Keynote Address (10 min):

• Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Kenya

Video Presentation (10 min):

• Elvis Songa, Kenya Water Institute

Panel Discussion: Decentralised Sanitation for Decent Livelihoods in Rural and Peri Urban Areas in the Global South (45 min):

• Nelson M. Kwamini, Kenya Water Institute
• Rana Abdel Sattar, Director Water and Sanitation, UNICEF
•  SATO/LIXIL
• AfDB
• UNICEF
• WaterAid

Q&A with the Audience (10 min)

Strategic Dialogue on Scale-Up and Commitments: Financing the National and Global Replication (10 min)

Closing and Call to Action (10 min)

• Elvis Songa, Kenya Water Institute