On the 14th of February 2021, UNFPA Kenya partnered with the Ministry of Health, Kenya Red Cross Society and Damu Sasa to advance the accessibility and availability of safe blood and blood products through the Valentine's Blood Donor Drive. With the main event at Uhuru Park and other events across 52 donation facilities in the country, many embraced the initiative and donated blood. The main messages of the Valentine’s Day campaign focused on blood donation as an avenue to show love and share life

with mothers giving birth across the country most affected by Kenya's dangerously wide blood supply gap. Kenya's blood crisis has heightened perilously, evidenced by the downward trend of blood units donated between 2013-2019. COVID-19 has further exacerbated the situation, where measures put in place such as restricted movement and physical/social distancing, in response to the pandemic, has constrained the smooth running of blood services. Bringing together voluntary blood donors at Uhuru Park was a statement that despite unprecedented challenges, the road towards ending preventable maternal deaths is not lost. A total of 5,300 units of blood were collected across the country over the three days. In Nairobi, 200 units were collected, with 100 donated on Valentine’s day