Major humanitarian emergencies create enormous logistics challenges. Agility partners with the humanitarian community to donate logistics expertise, assets, and services when they are needed the most.
Humanitarian Aid
In 2017, Agility responded to humanitarian crises around the world, notably in Peru and Yemen where flooding and disease took a cruel toll on property and life.
In 2019, the destruction caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth provided another brutal reminder that sudden-onset, climate-related disasters will continue to necessitate robust, timely and coordinated logistics support for humanitarian operations.
Preparing supply chains for COVID-19 in vulnerable countries
Frank Clary, VP for Sustainability at Agility, explains what Agility is doing to help prepare humanitarian organizations in vulnerable countries for the COVID-19 pandemic, including import/export constraint mapping, gathering information on capacity, and donating warehouse space.
Agility has responded to 75+ humanitarian crises since 2006, in Bangladesh, Chile, Ecuador, Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Yemen, the Horn of Africa and more. Agility partners with the UN World Food Programme as part of the Logistics Emergency Teams (LETs), a private-public partnership that mobilizes some of the world’s leading logistics companies to donate services and expertise during major humanitarian crises. Agility also contributes bilaterally via local humanitarian partners in some instances in which the LETs do not deploy.
Our Approach to Disaster Response
Partnership
Agility always works in partnership with humanitarian organizations, and always at their invitation.
Emergency Response
Agility donates both logistics expertise in the form of our logisticians, as well as in-kind support like transport or warehousing services for relief supplies.
Disaster Preparedness
Agility also supports disaster preparedness activities like logistics capacity assessments of major ports, airports, and roads, as well as humanitarian logistics training.
Agility's Humanitarian Operations
Emergency Response
Since 2006, Agility has responded to over 75 humanitarian emergencies around the globe. Agility’s emergency response programs often include the coordination of logistics services in an emergency, and sometimes the donation of logistics equipment, such as refrigerated containers for temperature sensitive medical supplies. Agility may work through the Logistics Emergency Team, or independently.
Preparedness Projects
According to the UNDP, “every dollar spent reducing people’s vulnerability to disaster saves around US$7 in disaster response and reconstruction.” Preparedness activities help create vital linkages between the humanitarian sector, the public and private sectors, and ensure that local actors on the ground have the knowledge and assets to respond when disaster strikes.
Agility and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced a partnership that will strengthen the delivery of essential services...
From September 2019 until February 2020, Australia battled the biggest bushfire crisis in its history. The bushfires had a devastating effect on Aust...
When a GCC country detected its first COVID-19 cases, the government moved quickly to prioritize food security and bolster the supply chain. Agility...
Agility has worked closely with the Kuwait Red Crescent on humanitarian relief initiatives. Starting mid-March, it moved 32 truckloads of personal be...
Agility moved two truckloads of PPE from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Maputo, Mozambique, for PLeDGE Health, a U.S.-based NGO. PLeDGE is working to...
Insights from Frank Clary, VP for Sustainability at Agility In only a few months, the COVID-19 virus has been responsible for tens of thousands of de...
Agility moved 150,000 bars of soap across the country for a global consumer goods company that donated soap to humanitarian organizations in Indonesi...
In coordination with the Dewan Kampung Maju Jaya, a local non-profit organization in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Agility employees procured and distribute...
For the second year in a row, Agility provided humanitarian fleet operations training to 25 representatives from 13 different humanitarian partners i...
Agility and its portfolio company, United Projects for Aviation Services Company (UPAC), have teamed up to run a charitable meal program during Ramad...
Agility donated a 20-foot refrigerated shipping container to the UN Global Logistics Cluster to enable humanitarian organizations to store cholera me...
Following the flood in Kerala, an Agility employee was among these first responders, traveling nearly 35 km to bring his boat and assist local citize...
In response to the earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia in September, the UN Global Logistics Cluster was activated. The LET were asked to mo...
Agility launched a global fundraising campaign to raise funds to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The proceeds from...
After Hurricane Harvey, Agility USA employees raised more than $52,000 in donations for necessary supplies for Houston-based co-workers who experienc...
As part of the Logistics Emergency Teams (LET), Agility donated 2,000 sqm of warehouse for two months to store emergency food assistance for 750,000 ...
“More than 75% of the cost for emergency humanitarian assistance comes from supply chain operations. Agility globally supports its humanitarian partners by donating supply chain resources to help humanitarians provide critically needed materials to crisis-affected people in need of assistance. We are proud of our team members who contribute each year to our humanitarian assistance program by deploying to the field or working directly with humanitarian logisticians in active response operations.”
Frank Clary, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility
Agility's Humanitarian Partners
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As a business that is active in so many diverse communities, we invest to have a positive social impact in every community we touch by improving education and employment opportunities.
Agility is a leader and investor in technology to enhance supply chain efficiency, a pioneer in emerging markets logistics, and the leading provider of digital tools that empower small businesses and individuals to manage their logistics online.
