DHL delivers help to earthquake victims in Peru
Deutsche Post World Net has joined the international relief effort to help victims of the earthquake disaster in Peru. The DHL Disaster Response Team (DRT) for the Americas region is supporting the National Civil Defense Institute at the Pisco Air Force Base with its logistics know-how. The city of Pisco, 250 kilometers south of Peru’s capital Lima, is located in the region that is severely affected by the earthquake. DHL in 2005 entered into a humanitarian partnership with OCHA, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, to improve disaster response. Deutsche Post World Net Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Klaus Zumwinkel: “This is part of our corporate social responsibility program.”
The DRT Americas, based in South Florida, and DRT Asia Pacific, based in Singapore, were both set up last year. A third DRT for the region Middle East and Africa is planned for this year so that DHL will be able to offer its humanitarian support worldwide. The DRTs, whose services are provided, free of charge, each draw on a pool of about 80 DHL employees. Up to 15 DHL expert volunteers are on the scene at any one time.
In recent years, DHL and its employees have gained extensive experience in disaster relief management and are able to react quickly and in a professional manner to sudden natural disasters. The company has already used its transport and logistics skills as part of relief efforts launched after the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean, Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region and the earthquake in northern Pakistan. DHL for years has been active in the countries it does business in to live up to its social responsibility standards.
