Alcatel-Lucent Foundation donates (KES) Kenyan Shillings 13.9 million ($146,836.00) to the Kenya Red Cross Society for emergency relief in the Horn of Africa

Nairobi Kenya – The Alcatel-Lucent Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU), donated 13.9 million Kenyan Shillings (KES) ($146,836.00) to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) to help combat the severe humanitarian crisis devastating East Africa brought on by the worst drought in some 60 years. This donation is a result of a Global Matching Gift Program launched by the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation for Alcatel-Lucent employees. The program provided a way for employees to contribute to efforts to alleviate this crisis and to enable them to make a difference to the lives of the children and their families impacted by this drought affecting the entire Eastern Africa region.

Speaking while receiving the cheque, the Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General, Mr. Abbas Gullet, thanked Alcatel-Lucent employees worldwide for their generous donation noting that the money will go a long way in providing food and medicines for thousands of Kenyans who are currently in dire need as a result of the drought. “Kenya and indeed the Horn of Africa is facing the worst drought in over 60 years, which has caused a grave humanitarian crisis with lactating and expectant mothers, school going children and the elderly being the most affected,” said Mr. Gullet.

More than 3 million people in Kenya are in need of food aid. The situation is likely to continue if the rains fail again in the next season. According to the United Nations, more than 12.4 million people including 2 million children are at risk of starvation in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia.

The Kenya Red Cross Society has been leading the effort to alleviate the suffering of people across the country with some 1.8 million most vulnerable people receiving direct aid. The Kenyans for Kenya Initiative, an initiative of the private sector in partnership with Kenya Red Cross has mobilised close to KES 700,000,000 with a significant fraction coming from ordinary Kenyans sending monies through money transfer systems like MPESA a service run by Safaricom. Mr. Gullet said the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation donation was a big boost to the Kenyans for Kenya initiative.

Alcatel-Lucent’s donation will support Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) in its emergency interventions and activities designed to meet the immediate needs of the affected, including provision of relief food, clean water and urgent healthcare. This complements one of the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation’s primary focus areas, which is to help disadvantaged children acquire life skills that will lead to a healthier and more prosperous life.

The funds donated are for both short term solutions - emergency food relief and water trucking and medium term solutions such as rehabilitating or sinking boreholes and setting up greenhouses to improve food security.

“We have been shocked and saddened by the crisis devastating the Horn of Africa. But we are heartened by the efforts of international humanitarian organizations such as the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and individuals, including our own employees, to help the people of this region. Alcatel-Lucent employees and the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation are taking steps to ease the East Africa crisis. We are committed to improve and transform these peoples’ lives, and we hope that individuals and organizations will continue donating to the relief efforts. Donating funds is the most efficient way to show solidarity and make a difference in supporting the effort to lessen the suffering and enable access to water, food and basic sanitation” said Tony Wood, Country Senior Officer of Alcatel-Lucent in East Africa.

The Kenya Red Cross Society’s superior response capacity enables it to rapidly deploy aid to theaffected areas. The organization is also implementing medium- to long- term interventions aimed at rebuilding the communities’ resilience to future disasters through early recovery initiatives like school feeding programs, rehabilitation of water wells, setting up greenhouse farming operations and open the way to more agricultural innovation.

Alcatel-Lucent is committed to being an involved corporate citizen by serving and enhancing the communities where its employees and customers live and work. The matching gift program launched by the foundation is one aspect of that. As they have in providing donations to help people impacted by other disasters around the world, Alcatel-Lucent’s employees understand that the situation in East Africa demands an immediate response and emergency funds to stop hunger and malnutrition from accelerating and to support safety programs.

About Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS)
The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) is a humanitarian relief organisation created in 1965 through an Act of Parliament, Cap 256 of the Laws of Kenya. As a voluntary organisation, the Society operates through a network of eight Regions and 62 Branches spread throughout the country. The Society is a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the largest humanitarian relief Movement represented in 185 countries worldwide. Its mission is to be the leading humanitarian organization in Kenya that is self-sustaining, delivering excellent quality service of preventing and alleviating human suffering to the most vulnerable in the community.

About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)

The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in mobile, fixed, IP and Optics technologies, and a pioneer in applications and services. Alcatel-Lucent includes Bell Labs, one of the world’s foremost centres of research and innovation in communications technology.

With operations in more than 130 countries and one of the most experienced global services organizations in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach.

The Company achieved revenues of Euro 16 billion in 2010 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.

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