Safaricom Foundation has recently established a maternal, neonatal, and child healthcare programme in Baringo County, which is targeted at lowering the county’s rates of maternal and infant death.
Research conducted by the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey and UNICEF found that there are at least 375 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births, and there are 31 infant fatalities for every 1,000 live births. The campaign will help at least 15,000 women throughout seven sub-counties in Kenya: Mogotio, Koibatek, Marigat, Baringo Central, Baringo North, Tiaty East, and East Pokot.
Together with the County Government of Baringo, the Safaricom Foundation will construct at least three maternity wings, outfit those maternity wings with necessary medical equipment, and provide ambulances so that pregnant women who live in rural locations may access medical facilities. In addition to this, solar panels will be installed in a number of health centres so that they are able to function during the night.
In addition to providing support for infrastructure, pregnant women will be encouraged to give birth in healthcare facilities that offer innovative maternity services that are adapted to the customs of the local community. Over five hundred community health volunteers will be given the opportunity to interact with women as part of the complete programme, which will also include the facilitation of awareness creation on maternal health practises.
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Remarks from Baringo Governor, Stanley Kiptis
“We are grateful to Safaricom Foundation for partnering with us to save the lives of women and children in our county. We believe that through this engagement health services will get better and we will secure the future of our children,” said Baringo Governor, Stanley Kiptis.
The maternal health campaign that is being run by the Safaricom Foundation was initiated a year ago, and thus far, counties in the Rift Valley and Coast regions have benefited from it. As part of the initiative, the foundation has set aside 132 million Kenyan shillings to support efforts to improve maternity, neonatal, and child health services across the nation.
Over 2,000 individuals are currently being assisted by a maternal shelter located in Witu and a newborn facility located on Faza Island that were both recently established and outfitted in Lamu. The newborn and maternity section of the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital in Mombasa County has recently undergone renovations and been outfitted with new medical supplies.
At the same time, in the county of Uasin Gishu, the Moi Teaching and Referral hospital’s newborn section and the maternity wing at the Moiben Sub-County Hospital also received new equipment from the Foundation in order to enhance the quality of the services they provide.
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About Safaricom Foundation
Safaricom Foundation was established in 2003 in line with Safaricom PLC’s Corporate Social Responsibility Policy. The policy aims to ensure that Safaricom exercises its goal of being a responsible corporate entity by operating in a responsible and sustainable manner while giving back to the community, hence the essence of this strategy. Since then, the Foundation has worked closely with various partners to transform the lives of Kenyans of all walks of life in society through funding sustainable projects that have a direct impact on the lives of communities.
For 19 years, Safaricom Foundation has touched the lives of eight million people. It has a footprint in all the 47 counties. It has learnt from communities, and by being flexible, it has been able to deliver relevant philanthropic and strategic interventions based on the communities’ pressing needs.
“We work to enable Kenyans access quality healthcare, education, skills and sustainable employment by providing resources, opportunity, hope and dignity to communities. Our current strategy builds on our strong history of results and partnerships and aims to contribute towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
Supporting and partnering with communities has been core to Safaricom ever since its inception. Even before it had the resources that it has today, it made a commitment as a company to connect with the communities…
“We have worked with communities across all 47 counties in Kenya to provide solutions on Education, Health, Economic Empowerment, Water, Environmental Conservation and Disaster Response, which are key sectors in empowering and providing relief for communities. ”
“Our areas of focus are centered on partnering with communities with efforts geared to provide resources, opportunity, and hope across Kenya. We have touched the lives of over 8 million Kenyans across all 47 Counties and we are the largest corporate Foundation in Kenya”
“We partner with more than 2,000 organizations and leverage our resources – finances, human, technology, and networks – to deliver more impact with less, in a sustainable manner. We take risks and go the extra mile to reach even those in hard-to-reach areas. We are a catalyst to community investments by the government, donors, peer foundations, academic and research institutions, and civil society. We prioritize shared value, investing in strategic partnerships and communities.
We leverage Safaricom Plc’s network, technology, services, products, data and analytics for insights to inform investments for value for money, scale, impact and sustainability.
We are also committed to alleviating immediate suffering of communities in times of disasters and provide opportunities to Kenyans to partner with the Foundation through our Ndoto Zetu initiative which calls for proposals from ordinary citizens who have dreams for their communities.
In addition, we partner with Safaricom employees through the Pamoja Initiative which funds charities and community development projects of their choice. Other ways we engage with employees are through a skill-based volunteering programme which allows employee secondment to our partners as well as offering opportunities for them to mentor and coach students and young adults,” the foundation says.