• The year-long project is designed to encourage participation of youth in volunteering online amid the Covid-19 pandemic which has limited physical interaction.
• Kenya Red Cross targets 10,000 youth aged 18-30 years who will provide voluntary service in essential areas as well as enhancing their personal growth.
The Empress Shôken Fund of Japan has partnered with the Kenya Red Cross Society to boost youth volunteerism in humanitarian work.
The Empress Shôken Fund is named after Her Majesty the Empress of Japan who, in 1912, inspired the Red Cross Movement to create an international Fund in order to support the peacetime activities of National Societies.
Under the partnership, Kenya Red Cross will create an online platform for youth to sign up and engage in various volunteer activities.
The year-long project is designed to encourage participation of youth in volunteering online amid the Covid-19 pandemic which has limited physical interaction.
Kenya Red Cross targets 10,000 youth aged 18-30 years who will provide voluntary service in essential areas as well as enhancing their personal growth.
Japan has been cooperating with Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies to provide emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education across the globe.
The Empress Shôken Fund has for more than 100 years supported a wide range of initiatives and projects of National Societies within the Red Cross, Red Crescent Movement.
It is administered by the Joint Commission of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which maintains close contact with the Japanese Permanent Mission in Geneva, the Japanese Red Cross Society and the Meiji Jingu Research Institute in Japan.
During a bilateral meeting with Dr Asha Mohammed, Secretary General of the Kenya Red Cross Society, at the Embassy of Japan in Kenya, Ambassador Horie Ryoichi acknowledged the important role of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in humanitarian work and emergency response.
“I expect that this cooperation through the Empress Shôken Fund will strongly contribute to the humanitarian and emergency response work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies,” he said.
“Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, I also welcome the innovative approach of using an online platform to encourage and facilitate youth volunteering, which has a great potential to accelerate volunteerism in Kenya.”
Kenya Red Cross Society, through the partnership, will provide an easily accessible and youth friendly platform for young people to innovatively contribute towards humanitarian work.
“For a long time, youth in Kenya have demonstrated desire to offer their time, skills and resources towards volunteering for the good of the community. Indeed 80%of Kenya Red Cross’ 217,000 volunteers are young people,” Mohammed said.
“The support from the Empress Shoken Fund on digital volunteerism will bring a unique way for them to access volunteerism opportunities remotely and deliver tasks related to our humanitarian work efficiently.”