The CMA CGM Foundation and UNICEF have established a two-year partnership to deliver better access to essential supplies for children.

FREE OF CHARGE MARITIME TRANSPORT

The CMA CGM Foundation mobilizes the CMA CGM Group’s expertise and infrastructure for UNICEF’s benefit as part of its “Containers of Hope” operation

The CMA CGM Foundation has signed a partnership to transport every year 200 TEUs (1 TEU = 1 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit containers) to the benefit of UNICEF by sea. These containers will be used to carry educational equipment, drugs and emergency nutritional products.

“Containers of Hope”, a vast humanitarian transport program, was first established in 2012 by the CMA CGM Foundation in partnership with major NGOs such as Doctors without borders, Action against hunger and the French Red Cross. It leverages CMA CGM Group’s ships and lines to deliver humanitarian relief to NGOs around the globe free of charge. Over 8,000 tons of equipment have been shipped since 2012 to around 40 countries worldwide, mostly in Africa.

In addition, specialists from CMA CGM Group’s Reefer division will work alongside UNICEF’s teams to support their logistics strategy for transporting refrigerated goods by sea (drugs, vaccines, etc.) under the CMA CGM Foundation’s skills-based volunteering program.

3.5 MILLION SCHOOLBOOKS FOR CHAD

Important initial shipment of school supplies to Chad, reflecting the commitment of both the CMA CGM Foundation and UNICEF to promoting access to education for children 

The partnership will begin with an important shipment of educational equipment to Chad. In all, 146 TEUs carrying 3.5 million schoolbooks for children aged seven to ten years in French and in Arabic will be transported to five cities in Chad—N’Djamena, Kanem, Mongo, Abéché and Moundou.

In Chad, only 20% of children who complete their primary education have good basic reading and math skills in French and Arabic, the country’s two official languages. Illiteracy levels among young people stand at around 70%, so there are more than 2 million young people unable to read or write. The situation is even worse among girls aged 15 to 24 with the rate of illiteracy in this age group of over 77%. This highlights the need to provide the most vulnerable children with the necessary tools for them to learn effectively.
(Source: https://www.unicef.org/chad/education#ftn1)

Tanya Saadé Zeenny, President of the CMA CGM Foundation, commented: “Mobilizing our Group’s shipping infrastructure and expertise to the benefit of UNICEF is a practical way in which we can help promoting education for all and protecting children. We are delighted to welcome UNICEF as one of our partners and to be able to play our part in supporting UNICEF’s efforts to help children worldwide.”

Sébastien Lyon, General Manager of UNICEF France, added: “For UNICEF, logistics are key in all our operations, especially in emergencies. Being able to deliver equipment, medicines and food at the right time guarantees the success of an action. Most of the supplies we need to transport require specific conditions, such as respecting the cold chain. The partnership with CMA CGM is very important, CMA CGM’s expertise in this area will be very valuable to us”.