Nairobi, February 18, 2016 -- Kenyan national and county officials, representatives of international donors and private corporations today launched two projects worth some KShs 8.5 billion to make safe water available to an additional 1.5 million Kenyans. In conjunction, a quarter of million Kenyans also will also benefit from targeted nutrition education. The result will be healthier and more prosperous communities across the country.

The Kenya Integrated Water Sanitation and Hygiene (KIWASH) project focuses on the following nine counties: Busia, Kakamega, Kisumu, Kitui, Makueni, Migori, Nairobi, Nyamira, and Siaya, and the Kenya Resilient Arid Lands Partnership for Integrated Development (Kenya RAPID), focuses on five counties in Northern Kenya: Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Turkana, and Wajir. USAID funds the $51 million KIWASH project, while Kenya RAPID is a $35.5 million joint investment of $12.5 million from USAID, $7.5 million from Swiss Development Corporation, $12.5 million from private-sector partners (Aqua for All, Coca Cola, IBM Research, and SweetSense), and $3 million from the Millennium Water Authority (MWA) and its members. The MWA is non-profit coalition of U.S. charities working to bring clean, safe drinking water and sanitation to people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

“These projects will invest more than $85 million from the United States government, international donors and the private sector, reinforcing our commitment to partner with the Kenyan national and county governments to improve the health and wellbeing of their people,” Ambassador Godec said.

KIWASH will combine nutrition programming with improved access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Kenya RAPID will increase access to water and sanitation for people and water for livestock to rebuild a healthy rangeland-management ecosystem.