For the third year running Plan Kenya, partners and communities will be celebrating World Toilet Day on the 19th November 2009. This year has seen more organizations join the growing CLTS network. These include SNV (The Netherlands Development Organization), World Vision and Oxfam UK among others. There is increased interest in piloting CLTS in low income settlements in Nairobi by organizations such UN HABITAT, Community Cleaning Services and Nairobi City Council. Kilifi is moving towards achieving their goal of becoming the first ODF district in Kenya. Earlier this year, Plan Kilifi hosted the CLTS in Africa sharing and learning workshop that drew participants from across Africa. They have also regularly hosted visitors from across the country who want to learn from their experiences in scaling-up CLTS. Kilifi District continues to be the learning center for CLTS in Kenya. This year alone close to 20 villages have attained ODF. This week 15 villages of Kaembeni Sub-Location in Kilifi District are undergoing verification exercises and will be celebrating ODF to mark World Toilet Day.

Since introduction of CLTS in Kenya more than 200 villages have attained ODF status and this is playing a key role in popularizing and scaling up CLTS. The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation has now accepted CLTS as a key strategy in sanitation improvement and has decided to use the approach in their WASH program in 21 Districts. Plan on the other hand is in the process of designing a two-year controlled study to determine CLTS impact on health outcomes in selected villages served by one health facility.

As a build-up to the World Toilet Day, communities in Kilifi, Homa Bay and Kwale Districts are organizing a series of activities this week. These include ODF celebrations, TV and Radio talk shows and an article in the local daily newspapers. The purpose is to engage a wider audience on reflecting and discussing sh!t matters as Kenyans join the rest of the world in marking World Toilet Day.

Read also Let’s talk about sh!t an article by Plan Kenya’s CLTS team which appeared in the Nairobi Star on 19th November 2009
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