United Nations helps launch DHL Disaster Response Team

(New York: 31 May 2006): The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today took part in launching the DHL Disaster Response Team (DRT) Americas, to be based in South Florida. The DRT is a pool of some 80 DHL experts specially-trained to ensure that relief supplies reach people quickly and effectively in the case of a major natural disaster.
"Logistics is often the linchpin in disaster response, the make or break. Getting help to people in need is critical and for this we need a smooth supply chain," said United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland.

Primary responsibility for responding to disasters, including managing logistics, rests with the governments of the affected countries. However, even the most powerful countries can be overwhelmed by the needs arising from major disasters. The DRTs will help supplement national efforts. Comprised of regular DHL employees who have volunteered to take part in the DRT's humanitarian work, the team will aim to reduce bottlenecks at airports close to the scene of a major natural disaster by helping to organize the handling, warehousing and loading of relief supplies for onward transportation in an effective manner. Each DRT will normally be deployable for a period of up to three weeks following a major sudden-onset natural disaster.

"By setting up the DRT Americas we are making a significant contribution to preparing for the upcoming hurricane season and to support relief efforts in the case of a natural disaster anywhere in the region," said John Mullen, Chief Executive Officer for DHL Express Americas. "We are committed to sharing our core competence in logistics and transportation as well as our expert manpower to support disaster relief efforts, not only in our South Florida home but where we are needed most in the Americas."

"The DHL Disaster Response Teams show how valuable the support from companies can be for supplementing the existing disaster management system," said United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) representative Carlos Monteiro-Pereira.

DHL employees were actively engaged in providing humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, after Hurricane Katrina in the United States in the summer of 2005 and following last year's South Asian earthquake in Pakistan. In December 2005, DHL entered into a partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and OCHA in the area of disaster management. It is the aim of DHL and OCHA to establish a global network of Disaster Response Teams.

The DHL DRT Americas will cover the Latin America and Caribbean regions. A DHL Disaster Response Team based in Singapore will cover the Asia Pacific region.

The DHL Disaster Response Team's services are provided as an in-kind donation. In addition to the existing work in the field of Disaster Response, the strategic partnership between DHL and the UN System will also cover other areas of disaster management such as disaster preparedness.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570.