Working with UNICEF

CSR in Imperial Bank is recognized as an integral part of the overall corporate strategy. The bank's CSR policy is in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Kenya's development plans. Three of the MDGs include reducing maternal mortality; child mortality and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Kenya needs to improve maternal health andreduce the number of children who die before they reach five years of age. 500,000 women die each year due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth while about 4 million newborns die within the first 28 days of life.

Most of these deaths occur in under-served communities and from largely preventable causes. One organization that has focused on achieving the MDG targets in Kenya is UNICEF. UNICEF's goal is to reduce maternal and child mortality rates by approximately one third through their Child Alive campaign. These are covered under MDG number 4 and 5 respectively.

Imperial Bank is privileged to have been in partnership with UNICEF for some years now. In 2008 the bank entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with UNICEF to raise funds for the Child Alive campaign by using the PesaPoint ATM network. This agreement made Imperial Bank the first bank in East and Central Africa to use ATM technology for fundraising. Since then, Imperial Bank has carried out awareness campaigns that have seen the public donate to UNICEF in over 120 PesaPoint ATMs countrywide. To date the bank has donated to close to forty thousand dollars. Currently, the partnership is focusing on the education of the girl child from the arid North Eastern Kenya. This collaboration has brought on board a government agency the Northern Kenya Education Trust (NoKET) which provides the much needed information on the areas with the greatest need in the region. The partnership is currently providing scholarships for 73 bright girls from North Eastern Kenya. 

For this sustained effort, Imperial Bank received the 2011 Millenium Development Goals - MDG Achievement Award which takes cognizance of the bank’s creativity and innovation in accelerating the achievement of MDG number 4.