UN food agency uses Uber to deliver aid in Ukraine

The UN's World Food Programme has teamed up with Uber to deliver aid to people in urban areas of war-torn Ukraine.

In a statement on Wednesday, it said it had already distributed food in Dnipro, while deliveries were also being carried out in the capital Kiev, Lviv, Vinnytsia and Chernivtsi.

"Through this platform, WFP can get its food closer to those people needing its support, dispatching deliveries in various sizes of vehicle, tracking each trip to its destination, and confirming deliveries have been made safely," it said.

In the statement, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the company was providing access to its platform for free.

"Using our technology, WFP can now schedule, dispatch, track, and manage deliveries by a network of cars and small vans to final distribution points within a 100-kilometre (60-mile) radius of WFP warehouses across the country," he said.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine that began in late February has left thousands dead and forced millions to flee their homes, with swathes of the country virtually destroyed.

The WFP said that by the end of June, it would be providing food and cash to more than three million people every month in Ukraine. 

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