The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) received three Millennium Development (MDGs) Awards on Friday 21st October 2011 from the MDGs Goals Trust Fund, for helping in attaining the Millennium Development Goals.

During the event that was held at the Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, KRCS received three awards including an award in recognition of supporting Malaria Control and Management. The second and third awards were co-owned by Safaricom and other partners under the Kenyans for Kenya Drought Initiative. That was in supporting the achievement of MDG 1 that is about eradication of extreme poverty and a third award through the K4K again, this time the Champion of the Year Award.

The Malaria Award was as a result of the Home Management of Malaria (HMM) Project in which KRCS partnered with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoPHS) to set up HMM projects in 113 villages in Malindi and Lamu. The target villages are remote and with difficult terrain, with high Malaria burden, high poverty rates and little access to public health facilities. KRCS provided volunteers and the MoPHS provided public health officers from local health facilities. The project was monitored carefully to measure results. The project, which targeted children aged under five years, was a big success with Malaria prevalence in the target villages significantly going low.

The Kenya Commercial Bank, Safaricom Foundation, KRCS and the Media Owners Association championed the Kenyans for Kenya Drought Initiative by rallying the public and corporates to contribute money towards reversing the suffering of people affected by drought in the Northern part of Kenya and Turkana, among other drought affected areas. The initiative realised over Ksh1.2 billion in cash and in kind in just over five weeks.

Abbas Gullet, the Secretary General of KRCS attributed the winning to the collaboration among the KRCS fraternity. He said: “I would like to thank the KRCS staff, volunteers and partners for this great achievement and for continuously upholding and proving the MDG’s ideals and values; it is a great honour to receive this recognition and a big affirmation that as a Society, we are headed in the right direction”.