The Foreign Service Journal, April 2016

30 APRIL 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Consider how much more could be achieved if governments sought and supported greater corporate involvement, matching problems to strengths. At UPS, for example, we believe in the power of logistics to move a significant volume of global GDP every day. But we also believe in the power of logistics to help alleviate suffering, even in the most troubling circumstances. Last year, in response to the Syrian crisis and subse- quent diaspora, UPS provided financial, in-kind and volunteer support, assisting the efforts of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Food Programme and the Salvation Army. These resources and the numerous volunteer hours provided by UPSers brought dozens of ocean containers filled with supplies to critical relief points like Erbil, in Iraq, where we delivered winter clothing kits for children, as well as therapeutic foods, tents, water sanitation devices and health kits. Working closely with partner organizations like UNHCR and Shelterbox USA, UPS also brought mobile warehouses and sleeping mats to Gaziantep, in Turkey, and countless kilos of shelter supplies to Lebanon. UPS’s logistics expertise has also been mobilized for disaster relief. In southern Turkey, as part of the WFP’s Logistics Emer- gency Team, skilled UPSers are assessing national infrastruc- ture capacities to maintain support for Syrian refugees. And in Germany and Belgium, UPS volunteers have constructed accommodation facilities, delivered vital supplies like blankets and toiletries, and distributed needed food to refugee camps. In Italy, support from the UPS Foundation has even helped to provide legal counsel to refugees ill-equipped to go through the proper immigration process. I highlight these efforts not just because I’m a proud UPS employee, but because I also think they might serve as models for greater corporate involvement in the future. By understand- ing what made past efforts valuable and helpful, we’ll be able to replicate and multiply them. Doing that will entail shared responsibility. Corporations have skills and resources that can be leveraged and directed at humanitarian issues, but only with support from the U.S. government and international community. While it may be true that companies have a responsibility to shareholders and decisions are often driven by a bottom-line calculus, companies are also made up of individuals who bring their values to work with them every day and contribute to corporate cultures that find ways to give back to the communities in which they live and work. I’ve seen the power of partnership from both the government and private-sector vantage points and strongly believe that everyone—no mat- ter who they work for—can help in such desperate situations, by playing to his or her respective strengths. A Model for Partnership Operationalizing this collab- orative approach poses its own set of challenges due to various restrictions and bureaucratic red tape. But by sticking to three main principles, we will create an environment through which corporate-government partnerships can make a major difference in times of great need. k First, corporations and governments both need to share early-warning information with each other. Large corporations and governments both have global reach, but don’t always cross paths in the same circles with the same networks. Jointly helping to flag issues as they arise will help governments and corporations take more informed action at the right time. When there’s an opportunity to make a difference, making each other Corporations have skills and resources that can be leveraged and directed at humanitarian issues, but only with support from the U.S. government and international community. UPS employee Deanna Cain works the forklift at a UNICEF volunteer event packing winter clothes for Syrian children. COURTESYOFUPS UPS 2