As malnutrition reaches emergency levels across the Sahel region of West and Central Africa affecting at least one million children, UNICEF partner UPS has sprung to action to provide transport for the first aerial shipment of lifesaving UNICEF supplies to Mauritania this year, a country within the affected region. The UPS flight, departing from Cologne, Germany, contained 102,000 pounds of critical UNICEF relief supplies including nutrition, health, education, water, sanitation and hygiene items.
“UPS understands that during humanitarian emergencies, the need to move supplies quickly is essential and can mean the difference between life and death,” says Caryl Stern, U.S. Fund for UNICEF president and chief executive officer. “We are extremely grateful that UPS has once again donated its expertise and services, this time to help UNICEF deliver lifesaving supplies to the one million children at risk in the Sahel region, and for their ongoing support in times of emergency.”
UPS worked quickly with UNICEF to coordinate the shipment of relief items from various locations, including UNICEF’s Supply Center in Copenhagen, in addition to Madrid, Lier and Toulouse for delivery to Nouakchott, Mauritania. Flying in supplies reduces the delivery time to affected communities.
“Logistics plays an incredibly vital role whenever a humanitarian crisis occurs, which is why UPS has lent its expertise for many years to bringing critical logistical support to areas of the world affected by disease, drought and other disasters,” says UPS International President Dan Brutto, a member of the board of directors of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. “With this drought situation in the Sahel region, millions of lives are at stake, and UPS is proud to be working with our partners at UNICEF to provide timely lifesaving supplies to the people of West and Central Africa.”
