DHL assists Pakistan aid
DHL Disaster Response Team will assist to handle incoming relief goods at Islamabad airport after devastating floods in Pakistan. Following the heavy Monsoon floods that first hit the North of Pakistan, the country is now facing a similar impact on the South. As the floods sweep down from the North, thousands of Pakistanis seek refuge to escape the water and so increase the overall number of displaced people.
After a brief assessment mission, DHL deployed an initial team of four logistics experts of its Disaster Response Team (DRT) to Islamabad on 25 August. On basis of a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Disaster Management Authority, the team has started to set up a provisional warehouse and will help with the logistical handling of relief goods at the military part of Islamabad airport.
The DRT will work free of charge and in close cooperation with the UN, in particular with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme (WFP). Both, incoming goods of the World Food Programme as well as bilateral contributions from governments to Islamabad airport will be handled by the DHL Disaster Response Team on the ground.
Due to the slow onset of the disaster the Disaster Response Team is expected to stay up to three weeks on the ground. Throughout this time a total of 20 to 25 DHL employees from different business divisions is expected to help unload and pallet goods for further distribution. The teams will alternate on a weekly basis, working with 4-5 team members at a time.
Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL said: “The situation in Pakistan is very serious and we hope we can support the ongoing relief efforts with our Disaster Response teams professionally as usual.”
Chris Weeks, head of Humanitarian Affairs added: “Millions of people are affected by the water and are in particular need for food, tents and tarpaulins. We have set up basic logistics at the airport in order to facilitate the further transport of the goods over the next couple of weeks. “The amount of people being cut off by the floods is estimated to be 800,000 by the UN, with a total of 17m people directly affected and 1.2m homes destroyed. The delivery of goods to those stranded in remote areas as well as to displaced people is the biggest task over the next couple of days.”
