Article 43 of the Kenyan constitution assures that every Kenyan citizen has a right to clean and adequate supply of water. However, in low income areas like Mathare, water has increasingly become a luxury.

Natural sources of water for residents like the Mathare River have become heavily polluted due to dumping of waste from farms and industries upstream. The residents have thus been heavily dependent on external sources of water, relying on government to deliver the necessary infrastructure.

Government neglect and privatization have however become a huge hindrance. This neglect if further justified by the lack of community capital to build the necessary water infrastructure.

Zira Water, in partnership with the Mathare Social Justice Centre's Water Justice Campaign, is thus working towards sustainable models that can ensure scalable infrastructure that can deal with the water and sanitation existential crises in Mathare. As a social enterprise, Zira Water's people-centered approach ensures community involvement and ownership by providing decentralized water treatment facilities to community water suppliers, and capacitating them to manage these facilities.

MSJC's Water Justice Campaign has done extensive participatory action research, facilitating community surveys that define the extent of the water problem in Mathare. The campaign also continues to advocate for residents' rights through mobilization, focused group discussions and civic education.