UN praises UAE for the transportation of medical supplies to Africa

April 15, 2020: The United Nations praised the generous support provided by the United Arab Emirates and its humanitarian efforts to transfer medical and protection supplies to the African continent.

In a statement distributed in Geneva, in conjunction with the announcement of the launch of the first United Nations air solidarity flight to transport medical supplies to African countries, the World Food Programme (WFP) affirmed that the United Arab Emirates, through the WHO’s regional logistical centre in Dubai, played a major role in preparing and shipping these supplies.

Elizabeth Beers, a spokeswoman for the WFP, told that the largest shipment since the beginning of the outbreak of corona epidemic started from the UAE to Bole airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She said the shipment, which was flown on an Ethiopian chartered plane in the name of the WFP which is carrying out the logistics of the UN response campaign to combat the coronavirus epidemic - will depart from Addis Ababa to other African countries and includes 1 million masks, face masks, gloves, goggles, dresses, masks and medical aprons thermometers as well as respirators, and this protective equipment will be sufficient to protect health workers while treating more than 30,000 patients across Africa.

Tedros Adhanum Gebrius, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the solidarity trip to Ethiopia is part of a larger effort to ship life-saving medical supplies to 95 countries ... expressing his thanks to the government of the UAE, the African Union, the government of Ethiopia and all the partners for their solidarity with the African countries At this critical moment in history.

The WHO said that its logistic centre in Dubai employs a team of seven people around the clock to send more than 130 shipments of personal protective equipment and laboratory supplies to 95 countries in the six regions of the WHO.