The UPS Foundation is working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to move critical relief shipments to Syrian refugees in Greece and along the border of the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. By Sept. 5, the foundation had delivered 163 tonnes of relief supplies, which include 86 tonnes of high-energy biscuits, 30,000 blankets, 25,000 sleeping mats and 1,000 solar lanterns to the area. The flights were funded by the UPS Foundation as part of its UPS Humanitarian Relief and Resilience program.
UPS is UNHCR’s emergency standby partner when there is a refugee crisis, such as the current situation in Syria. The foundation is also assisting The Salvation Army, which will receive emergency funds from the foundation to support refugees arriving in Rome. However, UPS has been at the forefront of relief efforts for Syrian-Iraqi refugees for the past three years.
Since 2014, the carrier has been transporting personal protective gear and medical uniforms to Turkey for the organization called Syria Relief and Development, and providing in-kind and volunteer support for Medshare to get medical supplies to refugees. In a partnership with UNICEF, UPS has assisted in packing and transporting 23,400 winter clothing kits via 17 ocean containers for Syrian children in Irbil, Iraq. Additionally, UPS has arranged charter flights to Erbil, Iraq, with food, tents, mats, water sanitation kits and health kits for more than 40,000 refugees in the Kurdistan region in 2013. Also in 2013, it assisted in packing and transporting 180,000 items of clothing – including 20,000 winter-clothing items such as hats, scarves, mittens, coats, thermal underwear, socks and boots – to Lebanon and Northern Iraq.
This year, the foundation has committed US$10 million in funding, technical and in-kind services to support a broad range of disasters and post-crisis recovery.