Guided by the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, Dubai Humanitarian has dispatched a fourth relief shipment to Uganda — the third by air — as part of ongoing efforts to help combat the spread of Ebola in the region.
72.5 tonnes of aid flown to Entebbe
The cargo was transported by air to Uganda’s city of Entebbe and carried 72.5 metric tonnes of assistance for communities affected by the virus outbreak. The supplies were provided by the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot, operated by the World Food Programme and UNICEF, from its pre-positioned stock in Dubai Humanitarian warehouses.
The shipment included water purification equipment to help prevent waterborne diseases, mobile storage units and generators to operate treatment centres in areas lacking stable electricity supplies, as well as living equipment to provide temporary shelter for patients and medical teams. It also included data logging devices to help health workers monitor the temperature of vaccines and sensitive medicines within the cold chain, along with materials that support the hygiene standards needed to prevent the virus from spreading further.
Leadership, logistics and urgent delivery
Giuseppe Saba, CEO and board member of Dubai Humanitarian, said: “With four air shipments carried out so far, this operation confirms what steadfast leadership and a clear vision can achieve. The UAE and the Government of Dubai have worked to ensure that all conditions are in place for our partners to transport humanitarian aid whenever it is needed, and that is exactly what a response to this type of health emergency requires.”
He added: “The value of these relief items does not lie in keeping them in warehouses, but in getting them to those who need them and can benefit from them. We are talking, for example, about a nurse setting up a treatment unit, or a family now able to access safe drinking water. That is the essence of this shipment, and it is what drives Dubai Humanitarian to continue supporting this urgent humanitarian response and to keep dispatching one relief shipment after another.”
A wider year of emergency response
This shipment adds to a series of intensive operations carried out by Dubai Humanitarian this year. To date, it has dispatched nine air and land shipments, with a combined volume of more than 450 metric tonnes, in response to emergencies in Gaza, Lebanon, Mozambique and Afghanistan, as part of the city’s mission to support the international humanitarian community and through close coordination with all of its partners.
As a global hub hosting international humanitarian organisations and offering the logistics, high-efficiency storage capacity and effective transport these organisations need, Dubai Humanitarian says it remains committed to delivering aid to people affected by crises, wherever they are and whenever there is a need.