THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD

Published purpose

The project supports the UN Humanitarian Response Depot Network's Panama depot. As the Western Hemisphere hub of the network, the Panama depot is designed to respond to emergencies in the Latin America and Caribbean region within 24 to 48 hours. It is expected that the Panama depot has 5,000 square metres of covered storage, 5,000 square metres of open storage, and is equipped with cold storage facilities to host medical supplies. The depot is being constructed on the grounds of the international airport and is temporarily operating from United Parcel Service (UPS) facilities located there. CIDA's contribution supports the full 2008 operating costs of the Panama depot, with any balance of funds being applied to supporting the other humanitarian response depots.