UPS facilitates UN aid flights from the Middle East

SEP 15, 2015: The UPS Foundation has coordinated flights from across the Middle East region to deliver relief supplies to Europe. The UN refugee agency UNHCR worked with UPS and the World Food Program (WFP) to fly 86 tons of high energy biscuits from the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Dubai, UAE to Athens, Greece […]

UPS facilitates UN aid flights from the Middle East
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SEP 15, 2015: The UPS Foundation has coordinated flights from across the Middle East region to deliver relief supplies to Europe. The UN refugee agency UNHCR worked with UPS and the World Food Program (WFP) to fly 86 tons of high energy biscuits from the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Dubai, UAE to Athens, Greece last week. From Amman, Jordan, UNHCR and UPS organized a flight carrying relief supplies for 30,000 refugees in Greece, including 30,000 blankets, 25,000 sleeping mats and 1,000 solar lanterns. From Athens airport, UPS facilitated the transport to refugees on the border of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. As UNHCR‘s emergency standby partner, UPS works closely with UNHCR to airlift core relief items for lifesaving support.

“The flights from Dubai and Jordan will provide vital aid to the unprecedented numbers of refugees in Europe,” said Rami Suleiman, UPS vice president Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Africa District.

Over the last decade, Dubai has developed into a vital logistics hub, connecting East Africa with South Asia. The Emirate hosts the Dubai International Humanitarian City (IHC), the world’s largest and busiest logistics hub for humanitarian aid, with nine UN agencies and nearly 50 NGOs and commercial entities as members. Last year UPS signed a memorandum of understanding with IHC to provide support when required.

The UPS Foundation’s Humanitarian Relief and Resilience program provides communities with crisis recovery support, from disaster preparation to urgent relief following an event through to post-crisis rehabilitation, most recently providing aid flights to Nepal following the devastating earthquakes this year. In 2014, the UPS Foundation assisted with more than 263 shipments to 43 different countries to help with disaster response efforts.

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