The Kenya Red Cross has stepped up disaster risk reduction by minimising the impact of calamities before they occur.
Deputy secretary general Idriss Ahmed said although the society is better known for its disaster response, it was more useful to protect life and property before they are lost.
He spoke in Nairobi yesterday during a meeting with editors.
“Last year we developed a system of warning people about disasters before they happen. The problem is sometimes people don’t act. For instance, they don’t move when we have predictions of adverse weather,” he said.
Disaster risk reduction aims at reducing the damage caused by natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, droughts and conflicts by working to reduce their size, strength or how often they occur.
This also involves building the capacity of the people exposed to these hazards to anticipate, survive, and recover from them.
For instance, in March last year, the Kenya Red Cross took part in disinfecting public spaces countrywide to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The society also distributed disinfectants and took part in awareness creation.
KRC secretary general Asha Mohammed yesterday said it is impossible to completely eliminate the risk.
“We always do risk assessments even while responding,” she said.
Dr Asha said the society has since last year separated its business from its humanitarian arm.
She heads the humanitarian wing while former secretary general Abbas Gullet still heads the business wing, which comprises the Boma Hotels and other investments.
Dr Asha said they are responding to people affected by rising water levels in lakes in the Rift Valley.
The society is also responding to the needs of people affected by the conflict in Kapedo, on the border of Baringo and Turkana counties.
About 1,500 households in Kapedo and its environs are affected, with the elderly and children being the worst affected.
Many residents have been displaced and are living in displaced people centres.
Schools, churches, hotels, stores, open-air markets and public buildings have been closed.
The worst hit areas are Kapedo, Natan, Toplen, Chesitet, Ameyan and Silale - remote villages about 16km apart.
Dominic Kimengich of the Eldoret Catholic Diocese said the area has been rendered inaccessible due to a massive security operation launched by the government to crack down on armed bandits linked to a spate of killings and displacement of families.
The cleric said several tonnes of relief supplies donated by the church and non-governmental organisation, including Red Cross, are lying idle in Eldoret, yet the targeted families are staring at death due to lack of good shelter and water.
