Airtel Kenya was last Friday declared as winner in the Humanitarian/Corporate Award 2017, at the annual Kenya Red Cross Volunteer Awards held at the Boma hotel. Airtel scooped the award for the second year running.
The awards are held in recognition of volunteers, institutions, artists, universities, celebrities, youth, the corporate sector and organisations that have shown exemplary service, continued support and contribution to Red Cross’ work of alleviating human suffering.
This year’s awards marked the 3rd edition where the humanitarian body sort to appreciate everyone that has in one way or the other taken their time to support and help the vulnerable in the society.
Airtel Kenya has over the years worked with the Kenya Red Cross to assist in disaster management. The most notable project that was undertaken by the two organisations was the Trilogy Emergency Response Application (TERA) which was launched in 2015. The first of its kind in Kenya, TERA offers disaster management information on disease outbreaks and other emergencies such as fires, floods and terrorist attacks.
The innovative location-targeted SMS system sends texts containing disaster warnings, health advice and updates on emergency preparedness and responses to Airtel customers across the country through their mobile phones at the touch of a button in cases of emergencies or outbreaks.
In a statement, Airtel Kenya CEO Prasanta Das Sarma expressed his gratitude at the recognition by Kenya Red Cross during the awards stating that Airtel is committed to working with like-minded individuals and organisations that seek to positively impact and empower communities.
“As an organisation, we are delighted and honored to have been awarded the Humanitarian award by our able partners Kenya Red Cross. At Airtel, we not only strive to create a telecommunication network that is affordable and accessible but we continue to invest heavily in community capacity building through the Airtel Spirit. Our focus remains in empowering, enabling and unlocking the potential of future generations to succeed and create wealth – social, financial and health.”
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“We shall endeavour to harness our technology in ways that will go a long way in helping the Kenya Red Cross achieve their mandate to prevent and alleviate human suffering and save lives of the most vulnerable,” he added.
Speaking at the event, Dr Abbas Gullet, Secretary General, Kenya Red Cross said: “Volunteers are the backbone of our organization and society, a great resource base especially in the implementation of our cross sectoral programmes and activities.”
“Today we recognise and award volunteers, institutions, artists, universities, celebrities, youth, the corporate sector and organisations that have offered leadership, commitment and exemplary service to humanity and have exhibited the spirit of volunteerism in Kenya,” Dr Gullet added.
Airtel continues to partner with various other partners such as Computers for Schools Kenya, Unesco and Global Peace Foundation to further enhance the lives of the communities which it interacts with through its CSR programs that focus on education, health, environmental conservation and youth empowerment.
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