Dubai Humanitarian has dispatched its fourth relief shipment to Uganda, the third to be carried aboard an aircraft operated by Dubai Royal Air Wing, as part of ongoing efforts to help contain the spread of Ebola in the region, following the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him.
Emergency aid flown to Entebbe
The cargo was flown to the Ugandan city of Entebbe and carried 72.5 metric tonnes of aid intended to support communities affected by the outbreak. The supplies were provided by the UN Humanitarian Response Depot of the World Food Programme and the United Nations Children’s Fund, drawn from their pre-positioned stocks 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 without stable electricity supplies, as well as shelter materials to provide temporary accommodation for patients and medical teams. It also contained data logging devices to help health workers track the temperature of vaccines and sensitive medicines within the cold chain, along with equipment to support the hygiene standards needed to curb the spread of the virus.
‘What matters is reaching those in need’
Giuseppe Saba, Executive Director 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 been committed to creating all the conditions that enable our partners to move humanitarian aid whenever it is needed, and that is exactly what is required in a response to this kind of health emergency.”
He added: “The value of these relief items does not lie in remaining in warehouses, but in reaching 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 emergency humanitarian response, sending one urgent relief shipment after another.”
Part of a wider humanitarian effort
This shipment adds to a series of intensive operations carried out by Dubai Humanitarian during the current year. To date, it has dispatched nine air and land shipments totalling more than 450 metric tonnes in response to emergencies in Gaza, Lebanon, Mozambique and Afghanistan, in line with the city’s mission to support the international humanitarian community and through close coordination with all its partners.
As a global hub hosting international humanitarian organisations, and through its high-efficiency logistics and warehousing capabilities and the effective transport resources these organisations require, Dubai Humanitarian reaffirmed its commitment to continue delivering aid to people affected by crises, wherever they are and whenever there is a need.