A new online platform called logistic-aide-ukraine.org has been launched with the aim of connecting relief organisations wanting to transport healthcare supplies to Ukraine with specialist supply chain companies.
The not-for-profit initiative, launched by pharma supply chain information platform Validaide has already matched a global Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) with a warehouse provider in Poland to facilitate the movement of aid.
The Validaide platform has over 900 subscribers specialised in healthcare logistics and its team was able to search this network to identify 20 potential providers to help the NGO, culminating in a match.
“The matchmaking has so far been facilitated by Validaide with staff volunteering their time,” said Eelco de Jong, co-founder and managing director, Validaide.
“We are at the beginning of this process, but we envision that moving forward the different parties will be able to find each other directly from the logistic-aide-ukraine.org website.
“The goal of this initiative is to help ensure humanitarian aid gets delivered.”
Shippers wanting to transport cargo to Ukraine can visit the logistic-aide-ukraine.org website and either ask for support or search the forum database for a relevant supplier to contact directly.
Suppliers can post about services or search the forum for organisations needing support.
Validaide connected with Meantime Communications in response to a social media message from the PR agency to take positive action to support the people of Ukraine.
“We must unite to support our friends and colleagues in Ukraine with actions, not only words, as much as we can,” said Emma Murray, founder and chief executive officer, Meantime Communications.
“The logistics community has so much to offer to tangibly help, we are proud to be part of that community and to support this initiative.”
Validaide has so far had requests relating to airfreight for relief products from the USA into Europe, road freight within Europe to the Ukraine region, warehousing in Poland, and transport into Ukraine.
In addition to the matchmaking, Validaide is also planning to provide practical information about humanitarian logistics on the website.