Source: Iberia

  • Since 2013 Iberia and UNICEF Spain have been strategic allies in global child vaccination programmes, and have extended the “micro donations” initiative to help fund Covid-19 vaccinations.

 

UNICEF Spain and Iberia, with IAG Cargo as logistics facilitator, have allied to support COVAX, the revolutionary global cooperation programme designed to ensure equitable access to Covid-19, implemented chiefly by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), already the world’s largest supplier of vaccines to children.

Supported by IAG Cargo, which markets air freight carriage for all IAG airlines, Iberia will has promised UNICEF Spain to carry vaccines, refrigeration equipment, and other humanitarian supplies without charge. Shipments will go mainly to  Latin America and some other of the 50 countries served by the Spanish airline.

In addition, Iberia and UNICEF Spain, which have worked together on child vaccination programmes since 2013, have extended through 2023 the agreement under which Iberia collects “micro-donations” from customers that are earmarked for these programmes and will now cover Covid-19 vaccines for children and adults. The extension of the agreement until 2023 was signed by Iberia Chairman Javier Sánchez-Prieto and UNICEF Spain President Gustavo Suárez Pertierra.

Customers buying air tickets on the Iberia.com website are invited to donate between 3 and 20 euros to help pay for Covid-19 testing, treatment, and vaccinations in the world’s poorer countries. The ticket booking platform Amadeus has also partnered with UNICEF in the micro-donations scheme..

On behalf of UNICEF Spain, Suárez Pertierra commented: “We thank Iberia for its strong commitment to this historic challenge by helping UNICEF continue to deliver humanitarian supplies, including corona virus vaccines, to every corner of the globe. The only way to end this global crisis is to distribute safe and effective vaccines quickly and equitably, to ensure people in the poorest countries are not left behind. Each step on this journey enables us to advance on the path to recovery for millions of children, youth, and families hit by the pandemic around the world.”

He added: “The support of Iberia, IAG Cargo, and the private sector in general, is no more necessary than ever to advance on the path to recovery. The virus respects no borders, and none of us will be safe until everyone is safe.”

Iberia Chairman Javier Sánchez-Prieto said “this airline is strengthening our commitment to UNICEF to promote a more global access to Covid-129 vaccines, and we thank our customers for their donations in support of this cause.”

More than One Million Children Vaccinated

Since UNICEF Spain and Iberia began working together in 2013, more than a million children have been vaccinated thanks to the 1.1 million euros collected from Iberia passengers in the form of micro donations. These funds have helped support UNICEF vaccination programmes in Chad, Angola, Cuba, Afghanistan, the Democratic Replublic of the Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, and Yemen.

In February, IAG Cargo joined UNICEF’s “Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative” to support the COVAX initiative to deliver vaccines along with essential medicines and equipment needed to fight the pandemic.

IAG Cargo’s chief in Spain, Fernando Terol, said, “We are proud to cooperate with the COVAX mechanism via UNICEF, and we hope that this agreement contributes to the gradual vanquishing of this pandemic everywhere in the world.”