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The South has tremendous global reach, especially through the public-private partnerships of the international companies headquartered throughout the region working to save lives and solve the world’s most pressing issues to help make the world a better, safer, and healthier place.

Coca-Cola UPS – Saving Lives through the Last Mile

• One of the most difficult challenges in the developing world is that of simple geography. Too often, lifesaving medicine and emergency supplies cannot be delivered from urban to rural areas because of lack of adequate transportation, communication, and supply chain infrastructure.
• Coca-Cola products can be found in almost every community in Africa – and Coke is leveraging this access to deliver life-saving medicines to families and communities across the continent.  In partnership with USAID and PEPFAR, Coca-Cola founded Project Last Mile in 2009, using its supply chain models and local networks to deliver medicine and healthcare supplies to hard-to-reach communities across the continent. Project Last Mile operates in 17 African countries and has touched the lives of over 43 million people since its founding.
• When roads aren’t an option for emergency humanitarian deliveries, UPS takes to the skies. Since 2016, the UPS Foundation has partnered with the the Rwandan government; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and Zipline, a California robotics company, to deliver emergency blood orders via drone to communities across rural Rwanda. Making between 50 and 150 emergency flights per day, the drones can deliver blood and medicine in 30 minutes or less.

Walmart  – Empowering Women Around the Globe

• Launched in 2011, Walmart’s Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Initiative has improved the lives of thousands of women in the global supply chain through access to new markets and support during COVID-19.
• The Walmart Foundation’s Market Access program has provided over $86 million in grants since 2017 to over 1 million smallholder farmers in India, Mexico, and Central America (50% of whom were women).
• Through a Memorandum of Understanding with the US Agency for International Development, Walmart worked with other retailers to identify opportunities and provide livelihood relief to garment workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOS International – Exporting the Best of Kentucky Values

• Over 80% of the world’s population has inadequate or non-existent access to medical care. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, SOS International exports local medical supplies to over 100 countries around the world.
• Since 1993, the organization stopped over 4 million pounds of usable medical equipment and supplies from ending up in landfills – meeting critical health care needs in developing communities, while promoting environmental stewardship.
• Working in partnership with hundreds of international hospitals and clinics, the non-profit is supported directly by individual, corporate, and community partners in Kentucky,. Every year they improve and save the lives of over 600,000 people.

ChildFund International – Helping Children Grow and Thrive

• Founded in 1938, Virginia-based ChildFund International works in 23 countries around the world to help children and families meet their most basic, urgent needs for health, education and safety.
• The non-profit’s work, made possible in part by individual sponsorships and USAID grants, coordinates closely with 200+ local partners to address the specific needs of each community and its children, in places like Ukraine, Brazil, Ethiopia, and Cambodia.
• Throughout the year, ChildFund International publishes impact reports and research on its programs to ensure that every dollar spent makes the largest impact possible.