FedEx activates disaster relief logistics facility at Paris hub

FedEx Express has begun operations at Europe’s first humanitarian “Forward Response Centre”, at its hub at Charles de Gaulle Airport, outside Paris. The company said the facility is supporting the work of the global disaster relief agency Heart to Heart International, serving as a secure warehouse for medical and other emergency supplies.

The new Centre has been operational for a few weeks, helping Heart to Heart to respond more rapidly to disasters in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and southern Asia, FedEx said.

FedEx already works closely with the disaster relief agency, providing it priority capacity on its aircraft heading out to affected disaster areas, and also provides assistance in areas like customs procedures.

Gerald P Leary, EMEA president for FedEx Express, said the new Forward Response Centre was a “pioneering” project for the 14-year partnership his company has had with Heart-to-Heart.

“Our collaboration is both expanding and strengthening over time,” he said. “Now, with the Forward Response Centre at the CDG hub, FedEx capabilities in Europe can better support Heart to Heart International’s impressive humanitarian efforts.”

Horn of Africa

With the new Centre now activated, one of the first shipments out of the facility has seen FedEx shipping out about four tonnes of medical equipment, donated by Heart to Heart, to the Kobe refugee camp in southeast Ethiopia.

The project, in collaboration with International Medical Corps, will see 10 pallets containing 3,960 medical kits provided to families in eastern Africa to help reduce the risk of refugees contracting hygiene-related diseases.

The partnership is also 25 Ready Relief Boxes to International Medical Corps from the United States, providing enough supplies to help individuals avoid the spread of germs and disease for up to two weeks. Together, the shipments are expected to impact more than 15,000 people through International Medical Corps’ operations, according to Heart-to-Heart.

The agency said more than 13.3m people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance with drought an famine problems intensifying at the moment.

Andre T Butler, Heart to Heart’s chief executive, said: “We work with FedEx on emergencies like this one in the Horn of Africa because lives are on the line and our aid absolutely has to be there on time.”

He added: “With the new Forward Response Centre at the FedEx hub in Paris, we have strengthened our capabilities to reach people in need around the world, on time.”

With disaster relief a priority for FedEx Corp’s corporate citizenship work, the company donated 5.2m pounds of charitable shipping around the world last year, the equivalent of 87 Boeing 757 aircraft full of aid.