Legal and Policy Change to Promote Sustainable WASH Services in Kitui County, Kenya

Summary

The rural water sector in Kenya is undergoing significant institutional change following national governance reform in the 2010 Constitution. Focusing on Kitui County, Kenya, a project location for the USAID Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership (SWS), this report outlines the direction of policy change over the past 10 years and reflects on ways in which public, private, and civil society actors are contributing to the evolution of a county water policy that supports sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) service delivery.

To advance along the path to sustainable WASH services in Kitui County and beyond, core recommendations from this research include:

Account for the long timeframes of institutional change
Draw on legal expertise and build trust for policy experiments in the rural water sector
Establish collaborative learning approaches through WASH forums