The United Nations World Food Programme and the United Arab Emirates have launched an international air bridge operation to get vital health and humanitarian supplies to countries reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, WFP said on Monday in a statement.
“WFP has been working tirelessly to set up the logistics backbone for the global Covid-19 effort,” said David Beasley, Executive Director of the Rome-based WFP.
“This partnership with the UAE will expand our capacity and support health and humanitarian organisations as we rally together to limit the spread of the virus and its devastating effects,” Beasley went on.
The WFP-UAE air bridge operation will supply millions of medical items and thousands of tonnes of crucial humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities and frontline workers in over 100 Covid-19-hit countries in the coming months, according to WFP's statement.
UAE will dedicate a fleet of three aircraft to fly life-saving cargo and personnel to wherever in the world they are needed most until the end of the year, the statement added.
Beasley praised the UAE for its role in countering the devastating social and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is bringing countries' overstretched health systems to the point of collapse.
“At this grave moment in history, when so many countries face enormous challenges at home, the UAE is once again stepping up as a leading first responder to global crises and making its significant capabilities available in the service of humanity,” said Beasley.
The initiative comes as most commercial airlines remain grounded and WFP warns of a global humanitarian catastrophe facing communities struggling to survive in parts of the world already dealing with economic shocks, conflict and natural disaster.
"Now more than ever, getting assistance to these communities is a matter of life or death," WFP said.
The WFP-UAE air bridge follows talks between Beasley and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, which centred on the global response to Covid-19.
The air bridge's three aircraft will operate on rotation between the UAE and key locations across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and the first airlift has already departed from Abu Dhabi carrying key medical equipment from Oslo to various locations.
Dubai houses the largest humanitarian response depot in WFP's global network, a facility that is "generously" supported with funding from the UAE government, one of WFP’s top donors, the UN agency said.
The air bridge operation is a key element of the UN's Covid-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan launched by Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the end of March for which WFP is appealing for an initial 350 million dollars.
WFP said it also requires 1.9 billion dollars to pre-position three months of food assistance in the world's worst hunger hotspots.
