Land Rover and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have been partners for more than 60 years, and the two organisations have released a video to highlight how working together has benefited people in need.
Launched ahead of the World Disaster Report 2018, which
estimates more than 134 million people will need humanitarian assistance this
year, the two organisations acknowledge reaching all of these people and
communities can be challenging.
The film shows how Land Rover and the IFRC help vulnerable
people in isolated communities from life-changing natural hazards. The focus is
on Chiapas, Mexico, which was the epicentre of the country’s second most
powerful earthquake ever, in 2017. It read more than 8.2 on the Richter scale
and triggered a tsunami which also hit the devastated area.
In response, the Mexican Red Cross mobilised 1,200 search and
rescue specialists and 31,000 volunteers to support the efforts and deliver
much-needed relief to more than a million people.
Land Rover has supported the Mexican Red Cross with a
community preparation project in Chiapas, which has seen the humanitarian
organisation travel more than 23,000 miles over the last two years to help these
vulnerable communities.
Chiapas Programme Co-ordinator Jessica Lara said working in
such remote communities can be a challenge and the local’s trust has to be
earnt. She adds: “The earthquake was one of the factors that have let us into
these communities, who now understand they are exposed and that disasters can
happen at any moment.”
Alexander Matheou, Executive Director of International at
the British Red Cross, said millions of people across the world are in crisis
and need urgent humanitarian aid, as more than 350,000 deaths have been caused
by earthquakes in the last decade.
“These events are truly devastating,” he adds. “And with
Land Rover we’re able to gain access to some of the hardest-to-reach areas and
support vulnerable people throughout the world. We’re committed to working
together to continue to helping communities prepare for and recover from
disasters.”
Chris Thorp, Jaguar Land Rover Responsible Business
Director, said: “Through our partnership with the Red Cross we are committed to
providing support to isolated communities like those in the Chiapas region of
Mexico.”
Since 2013, Land Rover has helped support the IFRC with 18
humanitarian projects across 25 countries.
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