In-depth analysis of 10 arid and semi-arid land counties
This factsheet looks at the progress in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health sectors in 10 of the poorest arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) counties including Garissa, Isiolo, Kitui, Mandera, Marsabit, Samburu, Tana River, Turkana, Wajir and West Pokot between 2009 and 2019.
It looks at two major indicators: 1) access to clean water and improved sanitation, and 2) proportion of births in health facilities between 2009 and 2019. It reviews investment, actual spending, absorption rates and the gaps in these sectors over the last five years.
The factsheet begins with an overview of access to clean water and improved sanitation, and the proportion of births in health facilities in the 10 counties. Next, it analyses investment in health and WASH sectors at the county level, and finally looks at the critical financial gaps in the two sectors.
Key findings from the analysis include:
- Household access to safe water sources increased in eight of the ten counties between 2009 and 2019, except Garissa and Mandera where it decreased.
- Access to improved sanitation facilities increased by at least eight percentage points in each of the ten counties between 2009 and 2019.
- The proportion of births in health facilities across the 10 counties increased by between 12 and 30 percentage points between 2015 and 2019, but the figures remain lower than the national average.
- Investment in water, sanitation and hygiene across the 10 counties has improved year on year during the period under review, dipping slightly in 2017/18 before a substantial increase in 2018/19.
- Absorption rates in the health sector averaged 84.3% between 2014/15 and 2018/19.
