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| (L-R) Jean Kiarie-Ngumu Group Head of Sustainability, Council of Governors' Chairman Hon. Peter Munya, Julie Adell-Owino EABLF Group Corprate Relations Director and Dep. Gov. Gerald Githinji |
The EABL Foundation has today announced an expansive initiative in
counties aimed at providing access to clean water and potentially transforming livelihoods of
communities in dire need of the commodity.
The initiative will involve development of 10 sustainable, water
projects in 10 counties to benefit communities struggling to access water. The
programme is part of a larger programme dubbed “Water of Life” under which the
Foundation has implemented over 50 community water projects in areas that are
encountering perennial water shortage in the region.
Speaking
at the launch, EABL’s Julie Adell-Owino, said the initiative is aimed at
drastically reducing the amount of time and hassle that people - especially
women and children - encounter in search of water, an increasingly scarce
commodity among many communities in the region.
“We
are not only critically conscious of the important role that provision of
clean, drinking water plays for sustainable development but are aware that
population expansion has stressed existing water resources. Hopefully, this
project will free up time for women to be involved in other socio-economic
activities and provide children adequate time to study, therefore boosting their
chances to succeed in life,” added Ms. Adelle-Owino
The ten counties in Kenya to benefit under the initiative are Kitui,
Tharaka Nithi, Kericho, Murang’a, Narok, Siaya, Kiambu, Kakamega, Nairobi and Mombasa.
Launching the initiative, Council of Governors’ Chairman Hon. Peter
Munya, acknowledged the Foundation for its efforts in complementing counties’
efforts to provide clean and safe water to communities. He appealed to communities to be protective of
the infrastructure once set up to maximize benefits to them and called for a
collaborative public-private sector partnership to restore and protect water
towers and catchment areas alongside all wetlands.
“Careful
environmental audit should precede the development and later, management of water
projects such as boreholes. To ensure this happens, favourable water practices
need to be developed and new water management standards established.”
Over the last 10 years, the EABL Foundation has
sponsored over 50 sustainable water projects in East Africa, positively
impacting over 5 million lives directly
and indirectly in the region. These projects include sinking of boreholes,
development of water pans and water preservation initiatives.
The initiative is part of EABL Foundation’s 10th
Year Anniversary marking the launch of EABL’s corporate social responsibility
arm in 2005. The location of the water projects is informed research by the
Foundation establishing demand for the commodity based on population density
abd geographical set-up.
Kenya is largely considered as a
water-scarce country, with water per capita of about 647 m3 per year and a resource
endowment of 21 billion cubic meters a year. The National Water Master Plan
2030 indicated that Kenya has up to 60 billion cubic meters of groundwater
potential that now requires compressive investigation to locate and map out
these aquifers for exploitation.
“It is important to acknowledge the fact
that matters of form and location of water —now more than ever before—call for
concerted interventions. Therefore, we need expert opinion based on scientific
evidence in this regard so that mitigation factors are put in place early”
noted Gov. Munya.
