Safe water key to maternal health, says CS Sicily Kariuki

Youth and Gender Affairs Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has said improving access to water and sanitation is key to addressing high maternal deaths. She said providing expectant mothers with basic health services and accurate hygiene information will help reduce such needless deaths.

"Emerging evidence suggests that giving birth in a setting without safe drinking water or sanitation has a negative impact on the health and survival of both mother and baby," Ms Kariuki said. She said lack of safe water and sanitation causes up to 50 per cent under-nutrition worldwide.

Kariuki said with improved access to water, women would save on the time they spent looking for the commodity and instead concentrate on other income generating activities.

"Easier access to water can enable a woman to water a kitchen garden or do irrigation farming and thereby improve the family's food security as well as provide an opportunity to earn money by selling the surplus," she said.

Speaking during the closing ceremony of the first women in water and sanitation conference in Naivasha, the CS called for involvement of women in key decision making processes on matters water and sanitation saying it is critical for their empowerment. Senior Assistant Director in the Ministry of Water Morris Opondo said the Government is keen on gender mainstreaming in all departments in the Ministry.