The UPS Foundation Renews Partnership With Emirates Foundation Following Successful Road Safety Campaigns
In line with the efforts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government, global logistics leader UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced The UPS Foundation has renewed its partnership with Emirates Foundation, a national organization set up by the Abu Dhabi Government to facilitate public-private funded initiatives for the empowerment of youth across the UAE, to continue supporting road safety campaigns in the country. The agreement was signed at UPS regional headquarters in Jebel Ali in the presence of Emirates Foundation Chief Executive Officer H.E. Maytha Al Habsi and Rami Suleiman, UPS President for the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Africa (ISMEA).
As a continuation of the successful collaboration, The UPS Foundation has approved a grant for 2019 to the Emirates Foundation in the amount of $185,000. The grant will be split to focus on three key areas: $100,000 towards the joint UPS Road Code Program, $50,000 towards the Community Preparedness Program and $35,000 towards Emirates Foundation regional conferences.
“The UPS Foundation is truly honored to partner with the Emirates Foundation, and we highly regard the invaluable work that it is leading around the world,” commented Eduardo Martinez, President of The UPS Foundation and UPS Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. “Because of our shared values, we look forward to significantly expand our partnership and programming in the coming year. As an example, UPS has pledged to complete 20 million hours of global volunteering and community service by the end of 2020. The Emirates Foundation will help us drive towards this goal as part of our commitment to promoting global volunteering and youth engagement more broadly. Our partnership with the Emirates Foundation has always been results-driven and we believe that the UPS Road Code Program is a demonstration of our joint hands-on approach and our commitment to ensuring the youth of today are the strength of tomorrow,” concluded Martinez.
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The UPS Foundation announced initial grants of more than $100,000 to Emirates Foundation in 2017 and 2018, dedicated to the education of new drivers on safe driving techniques through its UPS Road Code safe driving program. By May 2018, The UPS Foundation had exceeded its goal of educating new drivers on safe driving techniques by 44%, one year after its initial launch in the UAE.
“We are delighted to be renewing our partnership with The UPS Foundation a third consecutive year. The continued partnership with The UPS Foundation is a unique model which demonstrates the tangible impact that the private sector can provide and the untapped opportunities that must be captured and scaled up,” said H.E. Maytha Al Habsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation. “Such partnerships represent a critical part of our Youth Development model which is about solving social problems systemically and at scale. This requires more than just funding. By partnering with the private sector, we get access to technical input and also provide opportunities for youth to learn and connect directly with real life situations.”
“The increased grant and renewal of the partnership with Emirates Foundation reflect the scope of UPS’s commitment and are indicative of our passion to make meaningful impact in the UAE community and beyond. We leverage our strength and mobilize private-public partnership to prepare for and respond to large-scale emergencies,” said Rami Suleiman. ”Engaging with youth is critical to improve awareness on international disaster preparedness, capacity building and safety in the UAE. Youth are the catalyst for positive change and the realization of national ambitions.”
The Emirates Foundation partnership with The UPS Foundation is also aligned with SANID, the emergency volunteer response program, as well as the Emirates Foundations’ child safety campaign. This aims to promote the well-being and safety of youth in the UAE by continuously challenging the notion of unavoidable risks and making room for pro-active preventative approaches to reduce both accidents and injuries in the UAE. Engaging with youth is critical to improving awareness and safety as youth are the catalyst for positive change and the realization of national ambitions.
The UAE amended federal traffic laws to further protect the lives of road users and reduce traffic casualties from about 6 per 100,000 people to 3 per 100,000 in line with the UAE Vision 2021. The Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018 revealed that the total number of registered vehicles in the UAE reached almost 3.4 million last year. In 2007, there were around 17 road deaths per 100,000 people but by 2018, the number dropped to 4 deaths for every 100,000 people.
The UPS Road Code training is offered at 112 sites in the United States, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico and UAE. To date, more than 50,000 teenagers and novice drivers have participated in the safe driving program. The UPS Foundation’s top goal is to leverage its philanthropy, the resources of UPS and expertise of its employees to create public-private partnerships that are dedicated to advancing improvements to lives in local communities.
