[7/3/2019 12:35 PM] 

1.    Can you please identify the specific constraints that affect the Betaland Operation and give an
example of how a lack of Betaland resources is impacting on Humanitarian Operations?
 
[7/3/2019 12:35 PM] 
Please guide me
 
[7/3/2019 12:36 PM] 
about constraints
 
[7/3/2019 12:37 PM]  Naveed Stephen: 
task3?
 
[7/3/2019 12:37 PM] 
task 4
 
[7/3/2019 12:38 PM]  Naveed Stephen: 
Constraints affecting the Betaland Operation
 
The provision of humanitarian aid, particularly in disaster situations, can be complex and we
should keep in mind the certain characteristics and constraints in providing aid.
Ø       Internal organizational constraints
 
Coordination: Coordination is really very important to run the
operation smoothly and avoid duplication of work. For this
purpose a best example can be to introduce a logistics cluster
for coordination of activities among all the humanitarian
organizations.
The inability of the government of the country to coordinate all these organizations and the
total relief operation can be a significant constraint. This can lead to individual aid
organizations (NGOs) setting up and starting their own independent operations. This can lead
to confusion, bottlenecks, shortages and competition. There may also be situations where not
enough organizations or the wrong types of organizations are involved. This might be due to
political decisions affecting which organizations the government allows into the country and
how quickly the relief operation can start.
Lack of visibility of goods: Aid can pass through several
organizations including donors, UN agencies and NGOs. It can
be difficult to monitor the movement of this aid and have
visibility of where goods are being stored or being moved.
Lack of visibility of the supply chain is a major constraint.
Poor communication: It is another barrier in the performance
of supply chain. With all the different organizations and people
involved in managing the supply chain, there needs to be good
communication between them. The information flow in supply
chains is just as important as the goods flow; in fact the goods
will not flow along the supply chain without people
communicating information. Therefore, poor communication is
also a big obstacle that hinders in the successful humanitarian
organizations.    
 Uncertainty of demand and Supply: It is also a constraining
factor affect the humanitarian assistance operation. Supply
chain is much easier to manage and can certainly be performed
if the demand for goods is known and we can be certain of
what the future demand will be. In humanitarian aid
particularly in disaster and emergency situations, it can be
difficult to get accurate information on demand.  
Lack of Human Resources: Another big challenge for supply
chain within the humanitarian organizations is lack of HR. The
availability of enough people during disaster situation, with the
right level of knowledge and experience, particularly to work
in the field, will have a significant effect on the performance of
supply chain.
It is very important that the right type of goods, in the right quantities and to the right quality
flows up to the beneficiaries. This will avoid goods to be moved back up the supply chain,
which is a major problem as vital warehouse and transport resources may be used to move
and store goods not needed or suitable to be given to beneficiaries. 
 
[7/3/2019 12:38 PM]  Naveed Stephen: 
No Title
Ø       Constraints due to culture, environment & infrastructure
receiving aid
Poor Infrastructure:
 
Humanitarian aid situations often occur in developing
countries where the infrastructure, particularly transport, power
and communication lines are damaged by the disaster. This
coupled with disaster situations, which may have seriously
affected this already poor infrastructure, can have a significant
effect on the performance of a supply chain. So it creates
hurdles and obstacles to carry out the logistics activities by
humanitarian organization. These obstacles can be addressed to
the procurement department and services can be retained from
locals.
Military can give alternative route plan to deliver the aid goods if the roads are damaged,
shipment can be carried out through.
Geographical and Climatic Constraints:
One of the biggest constraints in providing aid is the difficult environment in which
organizations often have to work.
For example, Betaland is disposed to hurricanes and torrential
rain, which sometimes has devastating effects on the flat
coastal regions. This can result in serious disruption to
transport, destruction of crops and in some cases has resulted
in the loss of life
Example: Before joining SCILaid, I worked with
ICRC.  During flood operation 2010, we faced a climatic
constraint, since in one of the cities of Pakistan called
Jacobabad (Sindh Province) had temperature going over 50
degrees centigrade. Not only our staff but the local labors were
 unable to work during the mid-day time. Hence, we decided to
start the work by early morning at 5 or 6 till 11 am and then
restart the work at 4 or 5 to 7 pm.
Security and Instability
The security situation in a country where aid is being provided is becoming a greater
characteristic of aid operations and more of a constraint. This is particularly the case where
the aid operation is responding to a man-made disaster, or complex emergency, where armed
conflict is taking place. The provision of aid may be seriously affected, as it becomes unsafe
for aid organizations to operate.
An example from my past experience with ICRC, before joining SCILaid can be shared here.
Couple of years ago in Quetta (Baluchistan province, Pakistan) security situation was getting
quite alarming day by day. Many humanitarian organizations working in that area had
received threats. In a consequence of these threats one of our international staff from Medical
team was brutally killed and thus become reason to shrinkage of our activities all over
Pakistan for the whole year.
 
Political and Cultural
Political affairs are important barrier during disaster. Because you are going to some specific
country and you have to follow the rules and some restrictions. Earmarked funds possess vital
supply chain connotation as it decrease the flexibility to devote and invest in important and
significant logistics infrastructure that leads to slow down the logistics process as well as
humanitarian relief too.
 
 
Even in emergency relief operations, people affected expect to be treated with dignity, and
actions taken that recognize their culture and values.
For example, the provision of the wrong type of clothes e.g. used
clothes, which don’t meet local cultural norms, can be seen by
people to be humiliating and seen to be dumping of unsuitable
clothes that will never be used.
Donors have some conditions on the usage of fund, some humanitarian organization has to
follow those rules which can lead towards slow process in logistics and sometime creates
delay. Organization should concentrate more on core abilities and move toward the relief
mission in combined manner.
Transportation constraints
Another environmental constraint is movement and transportation of goods to the
beneficiaries. It plays a vital role in a timely and economic delivery of goods to the end users.
For example, if any items that can quickly and economically be delivered by road, but the
road condition is not good enough for the vehicle to move over it. Hence, in this case the
alternate route (longer one) or even alternate option (by Air, Sea) may increase the cost and
the transit time for delivering the goods at destination.
In my past experience with ICRC, during humanitarian operation in flood 2010, some of the
areas had disconnected their links with other cities, which were previously connected through
bridges, but flood had removed that bridges from their places and thus a big constraint was,
how to deliver their the goods. In some of the destinations, alternate but a bit longer route was
adopted that caused extra time and money.
Commercial Impact
 
It is important to recognize that the sourcing of goods locally in the country or region where
aid is required can have negative or positive effects on the local economy.
In some cases, purchasing goods locally may stimulate the local economy and livelihoods,
helping with recovery.
To avoid having negative effects, organizations may have to source goods internationally
which will mean more time and cost to acquire and transport them.
Goods may also have to be sourced from a particular location to satisfy donor requirements
and special permission may be needed from the donor to do differently.
Humanitarian aid organizations need to follow the general principle
of ‘Do no harm’. This requires them to ensure that their actions do
not have a negative impact on the infrastructure and economy of the
country or region they are working in.