Humanitarian logistics

Definition :
The process of planning, implementing
and controlling the efficient, cost
effective flow and storage of goods and
materials as well as related information
from the point of origin to the point of
consumption for the purpose of
alleviating the suffering of vulnerable
people
• Function : encompasses a range of activities
• 1-preparedness
• 2-planning,
• 3-procurement
• 4-transport
• 5- warehousing
• 6- tracking and tracing
• 7- customs and clearance (Thomas, 2004).
 Humanitarian Supply Chains
• Definition :
the network created through the flow of
supplies, services, finances and information
between donors, beneficiaries, suppliers and
different units of humanitarian organizations
for the purpose of providing physical aid to
beneficiaries
• Function:
• 1-units implementing programs,
• 2-managing grants with donors
• 3-controlling budgets and monitoring activities
which must coordinate with logistics units
• the creation of stronger links between units
within the supply chain
• 1-Share lists of supplies available in both local
and international markets, including prices
and lead times, logisticians to empower
program staff to better plan their procurement
activities
• 2-Provide warehouse inventory reports to
program staff to allow them to take more
responsibility for their supplies, and ensure
that they are utilized effectively
• 3 -More accurately divide logistics overhead
costs such as warehouse rental, transportation
and logistic staff wages into program budgets
according to the activities logistics is
supporting
• 4-Provide budget holder more accurate
financial information regarding funds which
are committed within the procurement
process, to avoid the over or under spending
of budgets.
 Humanitarian Logistics Humanitarian
organizations
• Humanitarian organizations seek a balance
between speed and cost in their supply chain
Logistics is central to disaster relief for several
reasons
• include government agencies :
• 1-United States Agency for International
Development (USAID)
• 2- the United Kingdom’s Department for
International Development (DFID)
• multilateral agencies :
• 1- the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF)
• 2- the World Food Program (WFP)
• non-government organizations (NGOs)
• 1- Save the Children and Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF)
• Most global humanitarian organizations
engage in a mix of development and relief
activities.
• 1- the emergency food,
• 2-shelter
• 3-services provided in the immediate
aftermath of a natural or man-made disaster
 Pain Points
• 1- nature of the funding process
• Donors
• 1-scrutiny over the usage of funds and concern that
contributions flow directly through to beneficiaries combined
with earmarking
• 2 - drives HROs to focus on direct relief rather than investing
in systems and processes that will reduce expenses
• Results : An underinvestment in infrastructure such as
information systems and warehousing facilities
 Organizational culture and high employee
turnover
• In general, humanitarian organizations are defined by
their personnel, who share a common value system
relating to the alleviation of suffering of victims of
disasters and humanitarian emergencies
• These people are driven by a desire to resolve crises
and do good in the world; neither their backgrounds
nor their values are geared toward process
improvement.
 A lack of institutional learning
• Is which the organizational culture and high
employee turnover create that environment
• Input from the organizations we interviewed
suggested that turnover of field logistics personnel
was as high as 80% annually
• Thus, while logisticians have a remarkable track
record for getting the job done under the most
adverse and extreme circumstances, the lessons
learned from one disaster to the next are often lost
 little collaboration

• Although many of them face the same challenges

and know each other, they do not often meet or talk
to one another except in an actual disaster
• For example, we found that several of them were
thinking of deploying a regional warehouse structure
for faster response
 ineffective leveraging of technology
• While the technology exists for creating the desired IT
solutions, funding constraints and organizational culture have
impeded systems development
• it is widely recognized that these are inadequate and
inefficient because they rely on manual systems
• Yet the humanitarian world is rife with failed implementations
of centralized commercial ERP systems that supported finance
or human resource needs well
 The Value of Information in the Humanitarian
Supply Chain
• In humanitarian supply chains is that the end
recipient of aid (the beneficiary) is decoupled from
the commercial transaction and has no direct
influence over what supplies they receive (Gray and
Oloruntob, 2006).
• The key decision makers within the humanitarian
supply chain are the donors who are funding the
operation and many NGOs regard the donor as the
customer in the humanitarian supply chain (Beamon
and Balcik, 2006)
 Response, Transition, Recovery, and
Preparedness
• Preparedness
• The preparedness phase involves building the
capacity to respond to a disaster, such as
working with communities to ensure they
know evacuation options, pre-positioning
emergency response supplies and building
organizational capacity to respond to disasters
 Response
• The response phase occurs immediately after
the disaster, and activities are focused
primarily on saving lives and preventing
further damage
 Transition
• During the transition phase NGOs begin to
look at providing ongoing assistance, such as
temporary shelter and revitalizing basic social
services (ref ADB). NGOs will also plan
strategically to transition from implementing
response activities to longer term recovery
and mitigation programs
 Recovery

• The recovery phase involves aiding communities

to return to their conditions prior to the disaster
• Activities :
• 1- training people
• 2- supplies for livelihood building
• 3- reconstructing houses
• 4- buildings and infrastructure and may be
carried out over a period of months to years
 Coordination
• In the area of disaster response we have focused
on coordination issues that emerge when
multiple actors need to interact to respond to an
emergency.
• Coordination is particularly challenging given
the lack of profit incentives in the humanitarian
supply chain, but also because it operates in an
environment without clear command and
control where priorities are constantly changing.