Water, health and development
Africa Alliance for Health,Research and Economic Development (AAHRED) is mission-driven, non-governmental organization.
Our activities include strengthening local capacity to lead innovative, people-centered, community-responsive, effective and accountable development, knowledge sharing; and evidence-based advocacy in the areas of water, water and sanitation hygiene, public health, economics, and environmental health
Kenya water need
Kenya is home to nearly 50 million people, 43% of whom lack access to safe drinking water. For decades, water scarcity has been a significant issue, owing to years of recurrent droughts, inefficient water management, contamination of available water, and a sharp increase in water demand due to relatively rapid population growth. Kenya's pastoral and nomadic communities are suffering from acute water shortages, which has led to a cycle of poverty and violence. Water shortages have been amplified in most of these areas by a lack of adequate investment in water. Clean water, improved sanitation, and proper hygiene are critical components of ending extreme poverty, emphasizing the critical nature of our existence. In Kenya, our water program is focused on the northern region, which includes the counties of Uasin Gishu, Trans-nzoia, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, West Pokot, and Turkana, which collectively have a population of approximately six million (6,000,000). We help communities improve their hygiene, education, self-reliance, nutrition, and agricultural outcomes by promoting equitable access to clean water, sanitation, food security, and sustainable environments. We train water user committees in operations, maintenance, and financial management to help them manage water supply projects effectively and contribute to protecting freshwater ecosystems that provide drinking water. We also help build local capacity to drive innovative initiatives in clean water access, sanitation, hygiene, and healthcare service delivery. We aim to improve community capacity for sustainable water, health, and development that meets individual, family, and community needs and assess, monitor, and share information on national and county-level healthcare access and quality gaps.
AAHRED Water Objective
AAHRED works on water projects such as borehole drilling, solar-powered water systems, shallow well digging, and dam construction, ensuring that the communities above have access to safe drinking water at all times, but especially during droughts. Additionally, the organization provides communities with consistent access to safe drinking water through gravity systems, water system rehabilitation, and the protection of natural spring intakes. We direct community-based management of water facilities, household and community sanitation, and hygiene education for economic development efficient and sustainable water use. We scale up interventions in partnership with communities in the program's mentioned geographical areas.
Water Data
Internet of Water is the future to access clean water, health and sanitation
It is evident that water is central to all aspects of life. Animal need water, plants need water and people need water. We consume it, use to grow food, clean ourselves, flush waste, and generate electricity. Water infrastructure has been critical to the development of human civilization.
The United Nations reports that “in 2011, 768 million people lacked access to improved sources of drinking water, while 2.5 billion lacked improved sanitation.” The United Nations defines the minimum requirement for clean water access as 20 to 50 liters per day to meet people’s drinking, cooking, and cleaning needs.
It equates to over 3.4 million deaths per year due to water, sanitation, and hygiene-related diseases. 98% of these deaths occur in developing countries, and 90% involve children under five. And, given the trend in developing countries toward urban slums, this situation is unlikely to improve without a concerted international and local effort
.Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions hardest hit by water-related development issues. Countries spend an average of 12% of their health budgets on diarrhea and other water-borne diseases. Additionally, on an average day in Africa, more than half of hospitalized patients suffer from fecal (water-borne) diseases.
We work with communities experiencing water stress as a result of climate change, growing populations, increasing industrialization, and the overconsumption and pollution of water resources. These people are experiencing an increasing number of negative economic and social consequences of a lack of water, including decreased production of goods, food insecurity, and poor health. The effects of poor water supply and sanitation on production and investment lead to poor health and poverty in entire sectors.
Most children under the age of five die every day from diarrhea caused by water contamination, poor hygiene, and inadequate sanitation facilities because of this threat to safe drinking water. Women, particularly girls, bear the brunt of the consequences of insufficient water and sanitation services. They transport drinking water from remote and frequently unsafe sources to their families, particularly in rural areas.
Lack of toilet facilities diminishes their dignity and jeopardizes their safety, especially when compelled to seek shrubbery alone or in the dark. Unsanitary conditions also pose a barrier to the development of young women, particularly in rural areas.
Water Policy & Action
AAHRED’s contribution to policy dialogues is critical in catalyzing current national, regional, and international discussions about water policies and sector strategies. Local and national leaders need to engage in policy dialogue to create enabling water management and development environment that benefits everyone.
Because AAHRED believes that access to water is essential to sustainable development and critical to health, education, environment, security, and economic and social development, we pursue Structured-advocacy and development modeling: Knowledge sharing; and evidence-based advocacy as our major mandate.
AAHRED’s mission is to increase and sustain community access to safe and clean water to improve sanitation and build community resilience in the face of water scarcity and climate change.
Water Solutions
01. Building new water projects in water-deficient communities
02. Equipping these projects with solar-powered pumps
03. Rehabilitate and disinfect existing wells
04. Support installation of water storage tanks in drought-affected schools in the affected counties
05. Train water user committees on operations, maintenance, and financial management to effectively handle water supply
06. Build capacity of communities on water sanitation, hygiene, and behavior change
Health
Our commitment is to assist and support marginalized rural populations, especially women and children whose livelihoods and wellness are directly affected by a lack of access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene. Women bear the burden of collecting water, often over long distances, for their families and communities.
We work towards the reduction of maternal, newborn, and childhood mortality in Kenya by fostering effective partnerships in water and sanitation, maternal, newborn, and child health, and infection prevention, including Typhoid Fever, Cholera, Giardia, dysentery, and hepatitis. We work to combat water-borne diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and the Corona Virus while improving nutrition and overall health and well-being.
We have a critical call for greater access to safe and clean water, increased health funding and dedication to affordable healthcare, and promoting a culture of accountability by strengthening state and non-state actors’ capacities when and where they are needed.
By identifying the social benefits of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene and the economic costs avoided, we strengthen Africa's water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) capacity. Women and children are disproportionately affected by a lack of water security, spending hours each day walking miles to the nearest source of water, which is frequently unfit for human consumption. Moreover, they could be spending on developmental tasks such as education, work, and family care.
If a community has access to a safe water sources, women will have more time to pursue new opportunities, and children will have more time to attend school.
AAHRED focuses on critical issues for the future of water security: population growth and climate change, while striking a balance between how much water people require and how freshwater ecosystems are preserved. We work towards accountability culture by building the capacities of state and non-state actors as needed.
