Gerald Rukunga.
Credit: African Medical and Research Foundation | |
Gerald Rukunga is the programme manager of water and sanitation of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) in Kenya. He has been with AMREF for eight year and worked on many water and sanitation projects in Kenya such as Makueni Water and Sanitation, Kitui water and Sanitation Project, and Magadi Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion Project to name a few. AMREF is a non-governmental organization that works to alleviate poverty. AMREF has 40 years experience in developing economically viable and sustainable solutions to the everyday challenge of safe water and sanitary living conditions.
QUESTION: What does AMREF do?
ANSWER: AMREF works to improve health and improve the quality of people’s lives in Africa. Its mission is to improve the health of the disadvantaged people in Africa as a means for them to escape poverty and improve the quality of their lives. We have 5 regional offices in South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Kenya as the headquarters. We also have 2 field offices in Sudan and Somalia. At the moment we have six areas of focus, or priority intervention areas (PIAs): HIV/AIDS including TB and sexually transmitted diseases; malaria; water and basic sanitation; family health; clinical services, disaster management and emergency response; and training and development of health learning materials.
As for the water and sanitation programme, AMREF’s focus is to increase access to safe and adequate water, sanitation and hygiene with a view to mitigating against water sanitation and hygiene related diseases and poverty alleviation. Improvement in access to water and sanitation will improve the lives of people in Kenya. We concentrate on three approaches, which are capacity building, operation research and advocacy. Our role is to support the communities to do it themselves. Capacity building particularly focuses on the local communities to give them skills and knowledge that enables them to develop and maintain water sources, improve their sanitation and practice good hygiene.
As for operation research, we test and apply innovative approaches that are acceptable and cost effective and document and share with the communities, Government and other actors any new experiences and best practices.
AMREF also looks at the area of policy. Using new lessons learnt and best practises; we approach the government and other institutional bodies to share these with a view to developing new policies or improving on existing ones in order to improve service delivery in this sector.
Q: As you have mentioned before, AMREF has six priority areas. Do you think success from water programmes would have a positive impact on other areas?
A: Yes, definitely. There are strong linkages among water and other sectors. For instance, safe and adequate water, sanitation and hygiene certainly will benefit people who are infected with HIV/AIDS to live in better and healthier lives. Better management of water and sanitation would also reduce malaria outbreaks. Adequate water coupled with good hygiene will help control trachoma. Safe and adequate water, sanitation and hygiene will help control most diarrhea diseases particularly among children under five, control parasitic infestations and disease vectors among others. Water can also be a source of livelihood as it can generate income for families and be used to improve nutrition.
So basically, we need to think of the package as one. Water can be a component to address other problems.
Q: The World Health Organization has stated that 1.1 billion people do not have access to water, and 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. Looking at these vast numbers, do you think the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be achievable, especially in African countries?
A: As I mentioned before, water and sanitation are interconnected with the other sectors of MDGs. I feel that unless the other issues are being addressed at the same time, these MDGs will not be achievable. We are experiencing climate change, desertification, people cutting down trees - and at the same time water sources become limited. These matters and many other aspects which include lack of appropriate policies, inertia, and poverty will affect the achievement of the MDGs.
Therefore, we need to focus on water management alongside other related programmes, where we can use water more effectively and efficiently. I also believe charging people for water would make people appreciate the resource more and be more responsible when they use it.
Q: Do you feel like privatization of water is a way forward?
A: Yes, that is one way of improving water management. It is more efficient and improves conservation of water sources while ensuring people have access to water that they pay for and their money is used to sustainably operate, maintain and manage the water sources. The current government policy focuses on decentralization of water sources through formation of community owned water companies. These companies provide water to towns and villages, and people use the water for their households, farms and for industry. For instance, Nairobi Water Company subsidizes the cost of water for the most disadvantaged in the informal settlements while ensuring the rest of the city inhabitants pay promptly for their water services.
People appreciate and use water properly when they are charged for it. The problems we are facing in the informal settlements at the moment are corruption, theft and vandalism. Sometimes people steal the water from the company water pipes and nobody will report due to fear of reprisals from the thieves. This deprives the water companies of the much needed revenue for operation and maintenance. Therefore, the best way to ensure water is managed and used properly is through privatization that will ensure people pay their fare share of the water they consume.
Q: Do you think community involvement is the key to success in water management?
A: Yes, it is very important to involve the community. They run and maintain the water sources, which means they are going to make sure that everybody pays for water at a price affordable to all.
In the past, government controlled the water management without involving the community. This is a top-down approach, which failed. Therefore, it is best to apply top-down and bottom-up approaches at the same time. This ensures community demand and gets services with their full participation and ensures communities properly manage those services for sustainability. Where possible communities are encouraged and enabled to invest their own resources to initiate and manage their water and sanitation programme.
Q: Do you think the government has done enough regarding water management?
A: Yes and No.
Yes because it has developed a new water policy targeting decentralization that has led to enormous developmental activities including formation of water companies in pursuit of increasing access to water and sanitation.
No because it has not availed adequate resources to ensure the new water policy is enacted more rapidly.
Q: How important it is to involve women?
A: It is very important. Most of the time, women are the ones who are responsible for fetching the water. Men always control the water sources. But now, the situation has changed. Women are involved also in water management. For example, in the Maasai community, there are at least four women in each water committee. Often, they become the treasurer because women are good at it and men are irresponsible. When men are in charge of the money, they will spend it on alcohol or lend it to their friends and forget about it.
Q:Do you think that water shortages could cause conflict in the future?
A: As freshwater resources are decreasing, competition over water is getting higher. More and more people need water. Water becomes a very valuable resource at the moment. Therefore, I believe effective water management is important to avoid conflict in the future. Government needs to enforce water laws within the country. Also, international water law should be improved particularly for riverine countries. Cooperation between countries is important to conserve and maintain water resources.
Q: Do you think large dams are a way to store water and to fulfill water demand?
A: Yes this will trap and store the valuable rain water that will be used to supplement other sources. This practice even though not widespread and is being conducted in a small scale should be part of the way forward and AMREF is one of the NGOs spearheading this process.
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