June 16 - World Vision, Agility and Advance Aid have created a three-way partnership that will enable African-produced emergency relief goods to be provided to assist in African emergencies- a first of its kind.
This partnership will begin to reverse a trend whereby all emergency relief goods have been sent to Africa from the Far East, Europe or North America. The 5,000 emergency kits that Advance Aid is supplying to World Vision are 100 percent locally-purchased and more than 80 percent African-manufactured. The partners believe that this is the first time that a largely African kit has been supplied for use in African emergencies.
Advance Aid has worked with a number of Kenyan manufacturers to source the goods for the emergency kits. Each kit provides the basics that help a family of five to survive once they have lost everything in a natural or man-made disaster and contains plastic sheeting, blankets, a mosquito net, a kitchen set, two buckets and a hygiene kit.
Logistics and warehousing services are being provided for the initiative by Agility, through its warehouses in Nairobi and Mombasa. Agility will also be working with World Vision Kenya to distribute the emergency kits to World Vision offices across the country where they will be stored to be ready for use in the event of emergencies striking.
"Agility is pleased to partner with Advance Aid and World Vision in this new model of relief aid procurement and distribution," says Dev Bij, Agility's CEO of East Africa.
