UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Children’s Fund has undertaken the largest emergency supply operation in the organisation’s history in a single month by shipping 1,000 metric tons of life-saving supplies for children caught in the world’s most urgent crises.

“Unicef’s massive deployment responds to a massive need in many different countries at the same time,” said Shanelle Hall, Unicef’s director of supply and logistics operations in a statement on Tuesday.

“Now it is vital to keep humanitarian corridors open so these supplies continue to reach the children who desperately need them.”

Ms Hall added that children were facing a lot of crises in the world and they were under a lot of stress. Foreseeing the need to ramp up the response to conflict in Iraq and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Unicef had secured as many chartered flights as possible for August.

In 27 days, the organisation’s Copenhagen supply hub has dispatched 33 emergency cargo loads to the world’s most troubled regions.

The total amount of aid delivered would fill 19 cargo jumbo jets and has primarily gone to six countries.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2014