WFP’s Addis Ababa humanitarian hub launched officially

May 28, 2020: The UN World Food Programme's (WFP) Addis Ababa humanitarian shipment hub inside Bole International Airport from where Covid-19 supplies, equipment, and humanitarian workers will be transported by air across Ethiopia and Africa was officially launched on May 27.

WFP executive director David Beasley, Ethiopian minister of finance Ahmed Shide, UN RC/HC and World Health Organization representative Dr. Catherine Sozi and Ethiopian Airlines group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam joined the launch.

WFP team has organised warehouse space for dry bulk, temperature-controlled and cold storage cargo. WFP also provides dedicated cargo tracking, warehouse management and customer service to countries across Africa in collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam and UN WFP executive director David Beasley.

Ethiopian minister of finance Ahmed Shide and WHO representative Dr. Catherine Sozi.

The first cargo flight arrived in Ethiopia on April 13 from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) loaded with aprons, face shields, gloves, goggles, gowns, masks and thermometers procured by the World Health Organization (WHO) for distribution to 32 African countries. In association with UN WFP, the government of Ethiopia opened a new hub inside Bole International Airport from which Covid-19 supplies, equipment, and humanitarian workers will be transported by air across Ethiopia and Africa.

WFP is setting up the logistics backbone for global Covid-19 efforts, rolling out a global hub-and-spoke system of air links to dispatch vital medical and humanitarian cargo and transport health workers to the front lines of the pandemic. Global Humanitarian Response Hubs located close to where medical supplies are manufactured in Lige, Dubai, and China link to regional hubs in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malaysia, Panama, Dubai, and South Africa, where a fleet of smaller aircraft will be on standby to move cargo and personnel into priority countries. The network builds on pre-existing UN Humanitarian Response Depots (UNHRD) - including Brindisi in Italy.

As part of a global appeal to raise $2 billion for the Covid-19 response, launched by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on March 25, WFP is calling for $350 million to support vital common aviation, shipping, storage and transport and engineering services in areas affected by the pandemic.