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Title
ITDG - Livelihoods and Gender in Sanitation, Hygiene and
Water Services among the Urban Poor
Abstract
Kenya’s towns and cities have been growing rapidly as a result of both migration from rural areas and the natural
expansion of the existing population. By the year 2000 a third of the population (33.4%) was living in the country’s
towns and cities. Nairobi is home to 2.2 million (in 2000), a fi gure which is likely to grow to 3.5 million by 2010.
This has put a strain on service provision by local governments within the cities. It has also led to the expansion of
unplanned/informal settlements, commonly known as slums. The majority of Nairobi’s residents (about 60%) live in
these informal settlements with very poor infrastructure, especially for water and sanitation. Most of these people
live in poverty and atrocious/unsanitary conditions, fi nding their own means of coping by drinking polluted water and
disposing of waste in open spaces within and around the neighbourhood. The health effects are obvious, with high
levels of exposure to a range of diseases.
In recent years, the government has been attempting to implement water sector reforms contained in the Water Act
2002. The Water Act was set up to ensure consumer protection, rights protection and greater effi ciency of service
delivery. A positive step is that the policy framework has included gender concerns in it, along with an enhanced role
for communities in planning and operating facilities. The challenge, however, is to translate these into real practices on
the ground. The fi rst step must be a solid understanding of the gender and broader livelihood issues affecting access
to appropriate sanitation and water services. This is what this study seeks to address.
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