APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA 7. Active Corporate Social Responsibility: case of Safaricom all-girls School in Garissa County 2.80 In the context of social corporate responsibility, Safaricom, a leading telecommunication company, built an all-girls school in Garissa, in recognition of the challenges facing girls of that region in attending school beyond the primary level. This has increased the enrolment and attendance of secondary school by girls in the county. 2.81 The poor enrolment is partly due to the community’s nomadic culture and lack of education role models. Cultural practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), early marriages, and negative attitude towards education are the major challenges that hinder girl child education in the county. Prejudice where the community believes that girls should not mix with boys at adolescence is also a major hindrance. 8. Free Maternity Services 2.82 In 2013, the Government initiated and implemented a policy of free maternity services in all public health facilities to address the problem of Kenya’s Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR). It reimburses the health facilities by paying the funds directly to them for every delivery that they handle. This covers both normal deliveries, deliveries through caesarean, and complicated deliveries. 2.83 Prior to this policy, the MMR was as high as 488 deaths per every 100,000 live births per year. Increasing the percentage of births delivered in health facilities is important for reducing deaths arising from complications of pregnancy. The expectation is that if complications arise during delivery in a health facility, a skilled birth attendant can manage them or refer the mother to the next level of care. 2.84 According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2014 (p. 128), about 61% of births were delivered in a health facility. Approximately 46% of these were delivered in publicsector facilities and the other 15% births were in private-sector facilities. This is a large increase from 43% in 2008 to 2009. In addition, the reported MMR was 362 deaths per 100,000 live births (KDHS 2014, p. 329). | 51 |