The United Arab Emirates supports the establishment of a global humanitarian lifeline to nations most exposed to COVID-19. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), in partnership with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), has launched an international air bridge operation that will provide a lifeline of essential health and humanitarian supplies to nations around the world grappling with the impact of COVID-19.

In support of WFP’s role of providing critical logistics services for the World Health Organization (WHO) and the global humanitarian community, the UAE will dedicate a fleet of three aircraft to enable the movement of life-saving cargo and personnel where they are needed most until the end of the year.

As the COVID-19 pandemic causes overstretched health systems to collapse and creates devastating social and economic impact, this support will supply millions of medical items and thousands of tons of critical humanitarian cargo to vulnerable communities and frontline workers in more than 100 countries in the months to come.

This UAE initiative comes as WFP warns of a global humanitarian catastrophe facing communities on the edge of survival in parts of the world already dealing with economic shocks, conflict and natural disaster. Now more than ever, getting assistance to these communities is a matter of life or death. The first airlift departed Abu Dhabi carrying important medical equipment from Oslo (Norway) to various locations.

The fleet of three aircraft will operate on rotation between the UAE and key locations across Europe, Africa, Asia including the Middle East. The UAE-WFP air bridge operation will represent a major contribution to the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response.