CUSTOM BUILT APP: Uber and UN World Food Programme collaborate on aid delivery in Ukraine
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is working with ride-hail and delivery giants Uber, to transport emergency assistance to people in need in urban areas across Ukraine through the use of a custom-built version of Uber’s platform.
With larger vehicles facing issues reaching those in need in built-up areas, collaboration with Uber allows WFP to better coordinate, dispatch and track a fleet of smaller vehicles delivering relief items from warehouses to people in need in densely populated areas of Ukraine.
Through this platform, WFP can get its food closer to those people needing its support, dispatching deliveries in various sizes of vehicle, tracking each trip to its destination, and confirming deliveries have been made safely.
Through this collaboration, WFP has already delivered food from its warehouse in Dnipro to other parts of the city, ready for distribution. Further deliveries are also ongoing in other parts of the country, including Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv and Chernivtsi. The progress of deliveries can be tracked in real-time through the platform.
Matthew Hollingworth, WFP’s Emergency Coordinator in Ukraine, said: “WFP is playing a critical role in providing food and cash assistance to those most affected by the war in Ukraine. This technology helps WFP facilitate its response and improves how we serve communities in Ukraine that rely on us.
“It enhances our access to Ukrainian businesses within Uber’s network, making our operations more efficient while also harnessing local capacities.”
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Uber, said: “Uber is thrilled to be working with WFP to help them more efficiently distribute emergency food relief across Ukraine, by providing free access to a customised version of the Uber platform.
“Using our technology, WFP can now schedule, dispatch, track, and manage deliveries by a network of cars and small vans to final distribution points within a 100km radius of WFP warehouses across the country.”
