Towards achieving universal access to sanitation and hygiene
Kenya is one of 26 countries that are responsible for over 90 per cent of the global burden of open defecation. In 2021, fewer than three in ten people in Kenya had access to a hand-washing station. The sanitation and hygiene situation in Kenya inspired UN Volunteer Talia Meeuwissen to help communities and the Kenyan government achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation.
I joined the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) as a UN Volunteer in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) team shortly after the first COVID-19 outbreak in Kenya in May 2020. Almost immediately after I started my assignment, traveling to the field was no longer safe due to the rising COVID-19 infection rates in the country.