The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has launched a network of global logistics hubs to support developing countries amid the COVID-19 outbreak by dispatching vital medical and humanitarian supplies.
WFP sent a flight loaded with medical equipment to be distributed to developing countries especially vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic, aiming to ramp up the service to 350 flights per month.
WFP said it expects to deliver such supplies to 130 countries around the world over the next six weeks, with the aim to run up to 350 cargo and another 350 passenger flights every month.
Under WFP’s “hub-and-spokes” system, hubs located in Liège, Dubai, and China will link to regional hubs in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malaysia, Panama, Dubai, and South Africa, where a fleet of smaller aircraft will be responsible to transport personnel and humanitarian cargo to priority countries.
The flight departed from WFP’s new hub in Liège, more than 300 tonnes of humanitarian and medical cargo has been sent to 89 countries since late January to contribute to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
