The first initiative is a set of ten high-level Guiding Principles designed to direct both the private sector and humanitarian community as they work together to provide effective relief to those in need. The second initiative is a unique, pioneering example of collaboration between several companies and the humanitarian relief sector.
Agility, TNT and UPS, three leading logistics and transport companies, are joining forces to help the humanitarian sector with the logistics of emergency response to large-scale natural disasters. The World Economic Forum has facilitated these initiatives by offering a neutral platform for the development of partnerships between the humanitarian relief sector and member companies.
"The United Nations is eager to increase its partnerships with the private sector, particularly given the escalating number and scale of disasters as a result of climate change," said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. "We need to bring together all public and private capacities—global, national, regional, and local--to respond to the needs of growing numbers of vulnerable people. These Principles should help us do that," he added.
"The future of humanitarian partnership is collaborative," says Peter Bakker, TNT's CEO and the initiator of the initiative. "That is the first time three industry leaders put competition aside to contribute their core competencies to the humanitarian community. We are calling for other logistics and transport companies to join."
The three companies and the United Nations Global Logistics Cluster today agreed on guidelines and conditions for the intervention of joint 'Logistics Emergency Teams' (LETs). LETs' support includes providing logistics specialists (e.g. airport coordination, airport managers and warehouse managers), logistics assets (e.g. warehouses, trucks, forklifts) and transportation services. LETs will intervene for the first three to six weeks following natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, or storms.
"The LETs program presents an incredible opportunity to bring the full weight of the logistics industry to bear at a time when lives are in the balance. UPS is pleased and honored to join with our respected competitors in this effort," said Dan Brutto, President, UPS International.
The companies stand ready to deploy Logistics Emergency Teams worldwide upon request from the United Nations Global Logistics Cluster. The nature of the request, local situations and the companies' available resources will dictate the teams' size and composition. As a general rule, they will serve in countries where member companies already operate, thereby leveraging their knowledge of local constraints. A committee representing the member companies is to answer requests from the Global Logistics Cluster led by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and decide on the deployment of LETs.
"When disaster strikes, our job is to mobilise massive assistance and to make sure it reaches those in need -- fast," said Josette Sheeran, WFP's Executive Director. "Private sector expertise and corporate partnerships are critical to helping us save lives."
"Global presence brings social responsibilities. As we grow as companies and as an industry, particularly in emerging markets, we can see for ourselves that the scourge of poverty, disease and disasters affects us all. No one can afford to ignore these problems - and in fact, working together, we are in a unique position to help," says Tarek Sultan, Chairman and Managing Director of Agility.
The quality of the partnership was first demonstrated on the ground in August 2007 when Agility, TNT and UPS set up Logistics Emergency Teams in Indonesia during an operational exercise with the World Food Programme. In February 2007, UPS and TNT together offered free warehouses to the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depots run by the World Food Programme in Ghana and Panama.
"After the devastating tsunami in 2004, and the increasing natural disasters since, the private sector has heard the call to action to support humanitarian relief operations," said Richard Samans, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum. These two initiatives are only a start. The core competencies, resources, and increasing global reach of the private sector need to be further leveraged to save lives. "The Forum is eager to further facilitate and support these efforts," he added.
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Agility, TNT and UPS to contribute 'logistics emergency teams' in natural disaster zones
- Kuwait: Monday, January 28 - 2008 at 13:00
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The World Economic Forum, member companies, and the United Nations today launched two initiatives to facilitate further and deeper private sector support to humanitarian relief operations.
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Guiding Principles: (The actual text is now publicly available)The Guiding Principles for Public-Private Collaboration for Humanitarian Action were developed by the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) through a year-long series of consultations with a broad spectrum of private sector actors, UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in humanitarian relief. The Principles call on humanitarian actors and private sector companies to forge partnerships to take advantage of their respective core competencies in order to meet the needs of communities affected by disasters. The Guiding Principles also make clear that both parties should aim to build local capacity when responding to crises, that evaluating the impact of their efforts on affected people is vital, and that predictable, long-term partnerships will help maximize the effectiveness of partnerships for all concerned.
Logistics Emergency Teams
The very idea of Logistics Emergency Teams dates back from the World Economic Forum's 2005 Davos meeting. In the wake of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, four companies, among which Agility, TNT and UPS, decided to look into a coordinated, industry-wide emergency support to humanitarian organisations. In addition to sharing best practices from their bilateral humanitarian partnerships, they have developed a joint operating structure - today's LETs - to lend a collective hand to humanitarian organisations.
The Logistics Emergency Teams add to the member companies' respective humanitarian partnerships. Agility's projects in the last year alone include helping transport enough food to feed 43,000 people in Indonesia for the World Food Program after serious flooding in Jakarta, working with the local government in Bangladesh to procure and transport food and bottled water after a cyclone, delivering critical life support materials to 500 displaced families in Iraq with the International Medical Corps, financing a primary health care center to serve 13,000 refugees in Darfur, and conducting nation-wide blood drives for the American Red Cross in Agility offices in the United States.
TNT has worked with the World Food Programme for five years, helping over 1 million school children and tackling over 30 emergencies. In 2007, TNT supported WFP in Mozambique, Sudan, Bangladesh and Nicaragua.
UPS is a longtime supporter of CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. In addition to funding, UPS is conducting assessments of CARE facilities in Honduras, Sudan and Indonesia to help determine ways to improve the organization's emergency response network.
About Agility
Agility is a leading global logistics provider with more than 29,000 employees, and over 550 offices in 100 countries around the world. A publicly traded company, with $5.6 billion in annual revenue, Agility has three key operating units - Global Integrated Logistics (GIL), Defense & Government Services (DGS) and Investments. We focus on offering customers truly personalized service and flexible supply chain solutions tailored to meet their individual business needs, supported by a comprehensive network of warehousing facilities, transportation and freight management services. We also believe that we have responsibilities that extend beyond our commercial operations, as we are a worldwide network that is able to partner with local communities. Our contributions ensure the growth of our people, our business, and the future.
Agility Media Contact:
Nita Bhatkar
Manager - Global Public Relations
Phone: +965.4981154
Mobile: +965.7223703
About TNT
TNT provides businesses and consumers worldwide with an extensive range of services for their mail and express delivery needs. Headquartered in the Netherlands, TNT offers efficient network infrastructures in Europe and Asia and is expanding operations worldwide to maximize its network performance. TNT serves more than 200 countries and employs around 159,000 people. Over 2006, TNT reported €10.1 billion in revenues and an operating income of €1,276 million. TNT is publicly listed on the stock exchange of Amsterdam. TNT recognizes its social responsibility, and has formed partnerships with the United Nations World Food Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme to fight hunger and pollution in the world. More information about TNT can be found on its website group.tnt.com
TNT Media Relations
Cyrille Gibot
Senior Press Officer
Phone: +31 20 500 6223
Mobile: +31 651 133 104
About UPS
UPS is the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain and freight services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., U.S., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS pursues a wide range of socially responsible and sustainable business practices designed to reduce its impact on the environment and improve communities around the world. The UPS Foundation enables not-for-profit organizations to serve communities more effectively in the areas of hunger of literacy, environmental sustainability, non-profit effectiveness and safe communities. UPS is included in the Dow Jones and FTSE4Good Sustainability Indexes, which evaluate corporations based on economic, environmental and social criteria. UPS's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS) and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com
UPS Public Relations
Rebecca Treacy-Lenda
Phone: +1 404-828-8396
Global Logistics Cluster
Matthew Hollingworth
Phone: +39 06 6513 3166
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (www.weforum.org)
Posted by Medilyn Manibo, Assistant News EditorMonday, January 28 - 2008 at 13:00 UAE local time (GMT+4)
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