The Kenya Red Cross Society has partnered with Safaricom to introduce an SMS based tool to provide timely information and early warnings about disasters and lessen the adverse effects on communities.
M-Salama will be available to all Safaricom subscribers. It will offer information on impending natural disasters such as floods, famine, and drought. This will enable users to make timely decisions on how to evade harm.
KRCS Secretary-General is of the opinion that M-Salama is a timely innovation that will save lives due to the rapid speed in communicating with the target audiences. He said, “During the recent floods, we sent out more than ten million early warning messages, information that guided many families to move to higher ground. Today, telcos are well placed to offer colossal support in disaster reduction by using their resources to improve the timely flow of crucial information before, during and after the disaster.”
The two organization’s partnership aims to enhance disaster preparedness and strengthen community resilience in the long term. M-Salama leverages Safaricom’s ability to communicate quickly to masses with ease through its SMS infrastructure and Kenya Red Cross’ knowledge and skills in disaster risk reduction and management.
M-Salama can be accessed by dialing the USSD *600# at the cost of 1 shilling per SMS.