FedEx Express has flown 91 tonnes of food to East Africa for malnourished children and will operatea second B777F aid flight.
The US company yesterday delivered approximately 91 metric tons (200,000 pounds) ofhigh-nutrient food to Nairobi, Kenya. The Boeing 777F aircraft departed Paris Saturday evening andarrived in Nairobi the following morning.
The charitable initiative was organised in collaboration with UNICEF with the aim of offeringlife-saving assistance to severely malnourished children in south and central Somalia. UNICEF iscurrently transporting the aid into Somalia, ensuring that the relief shipment reaches thosechildren most deeply affected by the crisis.
FedEx said it will also donate a second B777F relief flight. These in-kind donationscurrently make FedEx the single largest provider of philanthropic air lifts of aid for UNICEF inresponse to the famine in Somalia. Together the loads will treat over 6,000 severely malnourishedchildren and provide fortified food for 4,000 families for two weeks.
“The crisis in the Horn of Africa calls for a prompt and unwavering response. I am bothhumbled and honoured that FedEx can lend its robust logistics expertise and global transportationcapabilities to help UNICEF bring much-needed relief to the children of this region.” said GeraldP. Leary, president, FedEx Express Europe, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa.
“An estimated 2.3 million children are suffering from malnutrition in the Horn of Africa,”said Tim Hunter, deputy director, fundraising, UNICEF. “We are grateful to FedEx for the company’sgenerosity. The life-saving food supplies will reach some of the most vulnerable children whoselives UNICEF and partners are working hard to save.”
The food shortage has been recognised as the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world todate. Famine was declared in parts of south Somalia in July. Since then, more than a thousandSomali children continue to arrive in Ethiopia and Kenya on a daily basis.
FedEx Express maintains a longstanding commitment to disaster relief. The company donatedmore than five million pounds (approximately 2,300 tons) of charitable shipping last year alone.
