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UPS on Tuesday announced that it will be expanding its vaccine equity programme into Nigeria and Kenya, in conjunction with its social impact investing arm, The UPS Foundation.

According to the global logistics company headquartered in Atlanta, this new commitment follows the success of its COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda and other developing nations around the world. The UPS Foundation, UPS Healthcare and UPS Flight Forward are expanding partnerships with Gavi -- the Vaccine Alliance -- and Zipline to deliver vaccines and critical healthcare supplies to millions of people across Nigeria and Kenya.

Over the past two years, these organizations have worked hand-in-hand with UPS to deliver nearly 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses via drone to underrepresented populations, as well as rural and remote communities. These efforts have an immediate impact on health equity and the established healthcare infrastructure will benefit people for decades to come, UPS said.

Since 2020, UPS Healthcare has delivered 1.5 billion COVID-19 vaccines, with The UPS Foundation delivering 34.5 million of those in-kind to countries in need.

The new commitment in Africa’s healthcare was one of three initiatives announced by UPS on Tuesday at the first-ever UPS Impact Summit. The other two are commitments to invest $8.75 million in Atlanta-based organisations in areas important to the local community, including workforce development, community safety, civic engagement and entrepreneurship; and doubling humanitarian relief efforts for Ukraine to surpass $2 million.

UPS said that, through The UPS Foundation, it has worked closely with Atlanta-based CARE, The Salvation Army, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP) and other partners to provide relief to Ukrainians affected by the war. These efforts include free transportation for $8 million in medicines and medical supplies, more than 1 million meals, 840,000+ pounds of relief supplies, and 90,000 blankets and coats for Ukrainian refugees.

The UPS Impact Summit was hosted against the backdrop of U.S. observance of Juneteenth and Pride Month. The summit explored the intersection between UPS’s ongoing commitment to ESG, diversity, equity and economic empowerment.

“UPS is a purpose-driven company. We move goods while also doing good — this is who we are in our hometown and in every community we serve,” said Carol B. Tomé, chief executive officer, UPS. “I’m proud of our Foundation’s approach to driving social impact here in Atlanta and around the world. We are delivering help and hope to those who need us most. Today’s announcements reflect the solid strategy and partnerships in place to get us there and beyond.”

On her part, Nikki Clifton, president, social impact and The UPS Foundation, said “Service is in our DNA at UPS and equity is at the centre of all we do through The UPS Foundation. This combination puts us in a powerful position to use our size, scale, and know-how to deliver what matters in Atlanta and around the world.”