Unsafe or inadequate access to water, sanitation and hygiene has a profound effect on public health around the world. Diarrhea alone kills nearly 2 million people worldwide each year, of which 1.5 million are children. Nearly 90 percent of diarrhea is attributed to unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. "WASH-related diseases are the number one cause of hospitalization and mortality for children under five. More than 50 percent of all hospital visits in Kenya are for illnesses related to water, sanitation and hygiene,” said Karen Freeman, Mission Director for USAID in Kenya.

SCC has been implementing WASH programme since 2012 todate cumulatively completing 16 WASH projects in Middle Shabelle, Banadir, Lower Shabelle and lower Juba regions. In order to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities and promote good hygiene and sanitation practices in an effort to reduce the transmission of fecal-oral diseases among conflict affected IDPs and host communities in those regions.

The interventions include emergency and humanitarian services targeting vulnerable people including women and children displaced by floods, conflicts and droughts. SCC established regional offices in Kismayu, Jowhar and Afgoye and has experienced WASH programeteams in the target regions and a strong network of national and international organizations working in the same areas.

SCC program focuses on water supply and sanitation access, hygiene promotion, management, and environmental sustainability in rural areas, especially the arid and semi-arid lands. SCC will continue to place communities at the Centre of its programming. Empowered communities claim their rights, have capacity to actively engage with service provides and policy makers, and create and maintain social norms. SCC will continue supporting communities to:  

-Rehabilitation/construction of borehole and shallow wells, construction of gender segregated latrines, capacity building for hygiene promoters, and establishing of water management committees.

-Actively participate in WASH-related processes and have access to information, knowledge and tools – including monitoring – to hold service providers and local authorities accountable;

-To provide training to volunteers, birth attendants, Community Health Workers (CHWs) on hygiene promotion, and safe practices.

-Mobilize the necessary support and resources to have access to reliable services and increased community resilience;