A/HRC/30/39/Add.2 65. Allocation of funds to the Ministry of Health for environmental health services started in 2008/09 and was doubled in 2009/10, which is another sign of commitment made by the Government. The budget seems to cover the salaries of thousands of environment health workers for hygiene promotion activities. However, this is still less than 0.1 per cent of gross domestic product. In addition, as stated above, the system appears to be based on an assumption that individual households cover most of the costs to install and maintain onsite sanitation. The very slow progress in rates of access to sanitation in the past decade (up from 25 per cent in 1990 to 30 per cent in 2012), however, shows that this assumption has proven to be not realistic. In any case, the Government has an obligation to allocate adequate budget for sanitation, hygiene and water in order to ensure the progressive realization of those rights. It also needs to develop strategies and incentives to encourage households to contribute to on-site sanitation. 66. Sanitation is a smart investment as well. The benefits of investing in water and sanitation are particularly evident in the area of improved health. Such investments prevent illnesses such as diarrhoea, reduce child mortality and increase adults’ productivity and children’s attendance at school. In 2012, 10 per cent of the deaths of children under five in the country, which has an under-five child mortality rate of 73 per 1,000 live births, was attributed to diarrhoea. According to a recent study by the World Bank, Kenya loses at least K Sh 29.6 billion (approximately $330 million) every year due to poor sanitation. 22 By improving both water and sanitation services, Kenya could save up to K Sh 145 billion annually.23 Aside from monetary benefits, water and sanitation have other positive impacts on economic and sustainable development, such as dignity gained, progress towards realizing gender equality, the avoidance of environmental degradation and, where efforts are made to prioritize access for disadvantaged individuals and groups, the elimination of inequalities. 67. In Turkana County, for instance, over 80 per cent of the population practise open defecation. This absence of sanitation is causing water-borne diseases, including cholera outbreaks. In addition, Turkana County alone loses K Sh 1.1 billion each year due to poor sanitation, through, inter alia, time lost in gaining access to water, premature death, healthcare costs and lost productivity. The county budget included a specific allocation for sanitation in the 2013/14 fiscal year for the first time. Despite the low levels of access and the huge losses caused by the lack of sanitation, only 0.05 per cent of the budget has been allocated to sanitation. 68. The Government developed a sector-wide approach to planning in 2006, and international assistance to the water and sanitation sectors, mostly in the form of loans, has increased significantly since then. The Special Rapporteur encourages donors to continue to support efforts in the water and sanitation sectors made by the Government and, at the same time, calls on donors and the Government to take targeted approaches to projects prioritizing the most marginalized people. 69. The Government should do more to ensure that more budgetary allocations are made to target the poorer rural and deprived urban areas, but also that already existing funds are better used to target disadvantaged individuals and groups. The process for determining allocations to different regions or areas should take into account existing disparities and inequalities, so that disadvantaged individuals and groups receive higher and targeted allocations even when they are living in regions that are otherwise adequately served. 22 23 16 Ibid. Kenya, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, The Pro-Poor Implementation Plan for Water Supply and Sanitation (2007), p.13.