- Eight Kenyan counties are set to benefit from a grant of Sh1.5 billion ($15m) from the Danish government.
- The funds will go towards water and sanitation projects and will be disbursed under the Green Growth Employment Programme.
Denmark grants eight Kenyan counties $15 million for water and sanitation projects
According to the Water and sanitation Cabinet Secretary Hon. Simon Chelugui, each county will receive Sh70 million ($700,000)
Eight Kenyan counties are set to benefit from a grant of Sh1.5 billion ($15m) from the Danish government to go towards water and sanitation projects.
The funds will be disbursed under the Green Growth Employment Programme.
Water and sanitation Cabinet Secretary Hon. Simon Chelugui, confirmed the news and said the eight counties are Isiolo, Marsabit, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Lamu, Tana River and Turkana.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, each county will receive Sh70 million ($700,000) for the projects and the funds will be channeled through the Water Services Trust Fund (WSTF).
The programme will also support water resources management initiatives and other activities.
WSTF has since undertaken several engagements and conducted a call for proposals to identify potential applicants for the grant which is expected to benefit both host and refugee communities.
It will be double blessing for some counties though like Isiolo and Tana River which in May this year were identified among ten counties by the World Bank under the North and North Eastern Development Initiative (NEDI) for funding to spur development in the region.
Each of the ten counties are expected to receive Sh120 billion ($1.2 million) to support off grid solar access, smart agriculture adoption and water and sanitation development projects.
Ms Helene Carrison Rex, the programme leader for NEDI from the World Bank, said the aim of funds is to attract investments to the region to complement ongoing government efforts to improve equity and reduce extreme poverty.
The Green Growth Employment Programme aims to promote Inclusive greener growth with higher employment achieved by focusing support on two intervention areas namely; Sustainable growth and jobs from investment and trade and sustainable use of natural resources and community resilience.
Under these two intervention areas, activities will be implemented around trade facilitation, value chains, renewable and non-renewable energy, investment in natural capital, resource efficiency and cleaner technology, climate change mitigation and adaptation, competitiveness, productivity, advocacy and market access. A cross-cutting theme will be strengthening of the implementation of the normative framework.
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