Today, Norwegian will fly a fully loaded aircraft with emergency aid to Africa

Today, a fully loaded Norwegian aircraft with emergency aid will head for The Central African Republic (CAR). The transport of vital aid is a collaboration between UNICEF and Norwegian. For more than ten months, children and families in Bangui in CAR have been helpless victims of a brutal war.

Norwegian has provided an aircraft and crew to bring emergency aid like medicines and other life saving equipment to CAR. In addition to providing an aircraft with crew, Norwegian will also give an additional 500 000 NOK towards the project in order to achieve the goal of collecting three million NOK and to fill all available space on the plane with vital emergency aid. This means that the "fill a plane" campaign, which has been ongoing since August this year, has sufficient funds to fill the aircraft’s cargo, overhead bins and all seats with medicines and other necessities.

Norwegian will first fly from Oslo to Copenhagen, where the aircraft will be loaded with emergency aid from UNICEF’s Supply Division Warehouse. The aircraft will then head to the airport in Bangui, CAR. UNICEF and Norwegian have been partners for many years. Together they have decided to highlight one of the world's forgotten crises, where 2.3 million children are suffering. One million people have been displaced in the civil war-torn country, and lack the most basic of equipment to survive. The violence in the country is ruthless, and children are not spared. Norwegian and UNICEF Norway have cooperated in this campaign to fill a plane with emergency equipment, which has included fundraising among many passengers.

“I would like to thank our passengers and colleagues at Norwegian for helping children in CAR by donating money to UNICEF's important work and our joint "fill a plane" project. UNICEF and Norwegian's common goal is to fill every available space on board with vital equipment,” said CEO Bjørn Kjos at Norwegian.

“I would like to thank Norwegian and its passengers who have helped us to fill the plane with lifesaving emergency relief. This important cargo enables us to provide even more children the opportunity to survive and to have a more dignified life,” says UNICEF Norway's Secretary General Bernt G. Apeland, who visited the country earlier this year and has seen the suffering first hand.

UNICEF is present in more than 190 countries around the world and has a big presence in CAR. The world's largest organization for children coordinates relief efforts within health, water / sanitation and schools, and is also a key player in getting child soldiers released and for the protection of children in general. UNICEF's appeal to the world community is to contribute 500 million NOK to CAR, however, today, just 37 percent of this amount has been reached.

Norwegian and UNICEF have had a so-called signature partnership since 2007. Norwegian supports UNICEF with campaigns and travel support. Norwegian’s employees support UNICEF by donating their annual Christmas present to the organization. In 2013, Norwegian donated one NOK from each water bottle sold on board to UNICEF's important work. Norwegian turned 10 years on 1 September 2012 and marked the day with an anniversary concert at Fornebu. The profits from the concert were donated to UNICEF.
 
It is still possible to contribute towards the “fill a plane” campaign. Click on the following link where information is also available on English.
Follow the entire flight via Norwegian and UNICEF’s Facebook pages this week.

Press contacts:
Norwegian: VP Media Relations, Lasse Sandaker-Nielsen: +47 454 56 012
UNICEF: Truls Brekke: +47 951 07 878