Mr Kenneth Frazier-CEO Merck Today is 19 August and it is World Humanitarian Day. At a time when the pursuit of profit seems to override any other corporate mission, Kenya’s fragile, unstable and hard to reach North-Eastern counties is about the last place any company would consider spending any amount of resources. Consider this. In 2014, one of the North Eastern counties called, Mandera, had a maternal mortality ratio of 3,795 deaths per 100,000 live births, surpassing that of wartime Sierra Leone. It is inhabited by a nomadic community, riven by internecine conflicts, pockets of extremism and cross border terrorism . Widespread illiteracy and cultural practices like female genital mutilation and child marriage ensured women and girls would remain trapped in poverty and desperation. Only the bravest and optimistic of humanitarian agencies maintained a presence, amid shrinking budgets for international development. In 2014, UN agencies in Kenya, like UNFP
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