Safaricom and M-PESA Foundations have called on their partners in the coastal region to make a strong contribution towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) so as to improve the livelihoods of the people.
Safaricom and M-PESA Foundations have invested over Sh355million in various projects across the Coast region aimed at transforming the lives of the local community in the last 10 years.
Speaking during a forum bringing together Foundations’ partners from the six Counties – Mombasa, Taita taveta, Lamu, Tana River, Kilifi and Kwale, Safaricom Foundation Chairman, Joseph Ogutu said this is an investment that has had a huge positive impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the region.
“Since our inception, we have actively engaged with communities across the Coast region and we are glad to be implementing transformative projects that are aligned to our vision of transforming lives as well as aligned to the country’s economic blueprint- Vision 2030,” he said.
One of the signature projects is the rehabilitation of Nyalani dam in Kwale through the Kinango Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction Project which was implemented in partnership with the Kenya Red Cross and the County Government of Kwale.
M-PESA Foundation invested Sh207million towards the project which has transformed the lives of more than 15,000 people in the surrounding community through farming.
The forum focused on sharing development experiences in the Coast region, localising the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals and ways of reducing poverty through sustainable livelihoods.
“Eliminating poverty in all its forms remains one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. The Millennium Development Goals helped in reduction of extreme poverty by more than half by 2015. However, many people across the world are still struggling to meet their basic needs and Kenya has not been an exception,” Ogutu noted.
Global estimates show that 800 million people are still living in poverty, many lacking access to adequate food, clean drinking water and sanitation.
In Kenya, 42 percent of the population still lives below the poverty line.
The SDGs are a new, universal set of goals, targets and indicators that UN member states adopted in September 2015 aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda.