On 24th August 2010, UNICEF-Kenya and SNV Kenya signed a second Program Cooperation Agreement which will see SNV provide capacity development support to the Government of Kenya-UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme. The one year agreement, to be implemented by SNV and a team of local capacity builders, will improve quality and speed up implementation of Government of Kenya - UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme programme. Human rights principles will inform project planning and implementation, leading to overall sustainability of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. The team will contribute in achieving following targets of Government of Kenya -UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme:
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1.3 million new water users
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310,000 people use rehabilitated water supplies
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1.6 million new sanitation users use hygienic sanitation facilities and practise proper hand washing facilities
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473,400 children in 789 schools use well maintained sanitation facilities and practice hand washing
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1.95 million people practice hand washing with soap and proper handling of stools
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Effective sector coordination mechanisms and monitoring systems established
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90 health facilities use hygienic sanitation facilities, equipped with hand washing arrangements
Other actors involved in the Government of Kenya -UNICEF programmeare the District Steering Committees, Water Services Boards and non governmental organizations and community based organizations working in various programme districts. In order to speed up the implementation of the programme SNV and UNICEF started working together initially in five districts including Pokot, Turkana, Marsabit (plus Moyale), Isiolo and Kajiado in 2009-2010. The first programme cooperation agreement achieved encouraging results. The District Steering Committees are gradually assuming leadership roles in the implementation of the Government of Kenya -UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Programme, NGOs are engaged as implementing partners and there has been an improvement in the number and quality proposals received for funding. Based on these experiences, it was felt that the overall speed and quality of implementation of the programme could be improved if a dedicated capacity building team is put in place to support the programme in all 20 districts. This is the basis of the second program cooperation agreement between UNICEF and SNV.