DP World, UNICEF enhance partnership through Jebel Ali Port visit

DUBAI- Abdulla Bin Damithan, DP World’s UAE Region and Jafza CEO and Managing Director, today welcomed UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Ted Chaiban, to Dubai as part of its ongoing efforts to leverage DP World’s facilities, infrastructure, and expertise to deliver critical COVID-19 supplies to countries most in need.

In January, DP World and UNICEF announced an ambitious and wide-ranging multi-year partnership supporting UNICEF’s mission to distribute critical COVID-19 vaccines and critical supplies on behalf of the COVAX Facility. Through this partnership, the two entities are collaborating on advocacy and knowledge-sharing to address logistical bottlenecks hindering access to essential supplies for children and their families.

UNICEF has begun utilising DP World’s free zone facilities in Jebel Ali to optimise critical supply access for countries most under pressure from the pandemic. The operation focuses on low- and lower-middle-income countries, where populations have been hard-hit, and pharmaceutical transport and logistics are particularly challenging.

Abdulla Bin Damithan said, "It has been an honour to welcome Ted Chaiban and his team to our flagship terminal in Dubai, which plays a crucial role in distributing vital COVID-19 supplies to where they are needed most." "We offer our infrastructure and expertise to support UNICEF in this effort because everyone should have access to vaccines, especially the most vulnerable members of society. I am confident that our combined expertise and extensive infrastructure will ensure vital supplies quickly get to where they are needed." Most recently, DP World supported UNICEF in sending critical supplies to India. Thanks to its end-to-end logistics and quick-reaction capabilities, it quickly dispatched these supplies from UNICEF’s facilities in Dubai to New Delhi for distribution within India.

This emergency shipment of critical supplies is just one of many operations with which DP World supported UNICEF.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally impacted the health, education and protection of children. Ensuring the equitable and affordable distribution of the vaccines across all countries will help bring normalcy to their lives," Chaiban said.

"The readiness of logistics infrastructure and services will be valuable as we hope more high-income countries will start to share their vaccine doses through the COVAX facility. The whole world will remain vulnerable to the virus unless we all work, through partnerships like this one, towards achieving equal levels of protection."