On Monday Norwegian’s most important flight of the year is bound for drought-hit Ethiopia. The flight marks the return of Norwegian and UNICEF’s “Fill a Plane” initiative which is now back for the sixth time.
This year, Norwegian’s plane is loaded with emergency aid for children affected by the country’s worst drought crisis in 40 years. For the sixth time, Norwegian in collaboration with UNICEF Norway are sending a plane with emergency aid to one of the world’s major crisis zones. This year’s mission will bring relief to children affected by malnutrition and drought in Ethiopia. This morning, Norwegian’s newest 737 MAX 8 aircraft was loaded with 10 tonnes of emergency aid from UNICEF’s warehouse in Copenhagen – the world’s largest humanitarian warehouse.
“Finally, together with UNICEF, we can once again fill a plane with emergency aid. I am very happy that we can contribute to getting even more direct emergency aid to children in Ethiopia and, through this, contribute to putting the spotlight on one of the world’s biggest crises,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
Norwegian is providing the aircraft, crew and key employees to UNICEF for this mission. “Thanks to the fantastic efforts of Norwegian’s employees, we can now send a fully loaded plane with medical equipment, medicine and other emergency aid to the Horn of Africa. It means a lot to have employees who are such active supporters,” said Camilla Viken, Secretary General of UNICEF Norway.
The collaboration between Norwegian and UNICEF Norway stretches back more than 15 years. “The partnership with UNICEF is a great source of pride internally at Norwegian. Most importantly, we see that our contributions are having meaningful and immediate results. Through fundraising campaigns by employees, humanitarian campaigns and donations from customers we have contributed to giving children all over the world better living conditions,” said Karlsen.
Children and families in southern and eastern parts of Ethiopia are suffering from the worst drought in four decades. Five rainy seasons have failed and a sixth is in danger of failing, with more than 24.1 million people and 12.9 million children in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
“As the world faces humanitarian crises increasing in complexity, scale and frequency, it is more important than ever to reach vulnerable communities with lifesaving supplies,” said Etleva Kadilli, Director of UNICEF’s Supply Division.
“UNICEF is proud to partner with Norwegian on the Fill a Plane initiative to deliver items to Ethiopia from our Global Supply and Logistics Hub in Copenhagen, including emergency health kits, medicines and midwifery kits. Every child deserves access to essential supplies, and this shipment will support health services to provide critical care for children and their families,” said Kadilli.
Norwegian has supported UNICEF Norway since 2007, and the commitment among both the employees and the company’s customers has strengthened over many years. Various activities to fundraise as well as voluntary efforts in connection with the “Fill a plane” initiatives have secured help for hundreds of thousands of children.
Some employee fundraising initiatives have included running the New York marathon and knitting mittens and socks for UNICEF. Over 100 Norwegian employees will participate in this year’s Fornebuløpet run in Oslo, raising vital funds for UNICEF. As an established Christmas tradition in Norwegian, the company makes an annual donation to UNICEF on behalf of colleagues rather than distributing Christmas presents.
Since the partnership was established in 2007, Norwegian and the company’s customers have collected more than 50 million Norwegian kroner for UNICEF Norway.