Chapter One

Logistics in Humanitarian sector

1.1 Basic Definitions
The word ‘logistics’ comes literally from the medieval Latin ‘logisticus’ of calculation, from
Greek ‘logistikos’, skilled in calculating, from ‘logizesthai’, to calculate, from ‘logos’,
reckoning, reason. It means many things to many people.

To the military, it is ‘the science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of
forces… those aspects of military operations that deal with the design and development,
acquisition, storage, movement, distribution, maintenance, evacuation and disposition of
material’ (DoD, 2002). Logistics in this domain dates back to the Napoleonic era when the
mare´chal de logis, the military officer, was responsible for organizing the camp facilities for
troops at war.(K leindorfer and Van Wassenhove, 2004).

To business it is defined as a planning framework for the management of material, service,

information, and capital flows and includes the increasingly complex information, material,
communication and control systems required in today’s business environment.

To many humanitarians, the definition of logistics is open to loose interpretation. Senior logistics
representatives working together in an advisory committee for humanitarian logistics set up by
the Fritz Institute recently tried to address the need for a common definition of logistics in the
humanitarian sector. They define it as ‘the process of planning, implementing and controlling the
efficient, cost-effective flow of and storage of goods and materials as well as related information,
from point of origin to point of consumption for the purpose of meeting the end beneficiary’s
requirements’ (Thomas and Mizushima, 2005). Essentially for humanitarians, logistics is the
processes and systems involved in mobilizing people, resources, skills and knowledge to help
vulnerable people affected by disaster.

Humanitarian logistics is defined as ‘‘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. The function encompasses a range of activities, including preparedness,
planning, procurement, transport, warehousing, tracking and tracing, customs and clearance’’
(Thomas, 2004).

The activities of ‘‘planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, cost-effective flow of
and storage of goods and materials as well as related information, from point of origin to point of
consumption for the purpose of alleviating the suffering of vulnerable people’’ are known as
‘‘humanitarian logistics’’ (Thomas and Kopczak 2005).

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Humanitarian Logistics refers to the processes and systems involved in mobilizing people,
resources, skills and knowledge to help vulnerable people affected by natural disasters and
complex emergencies. Humanitarian logistics encompasses a range of activities, including
procurement, transport, tracking and tracing, customs clearance, local transportation,
warehousing and last mile delivery.

Humanitarian logistics is a branch of logistics which specializes in organizing the delivery and
warehousing of supplies during natural disasters or complex emergencies to the affected area and
people. Although they have been mostly utilized in commercial supply chain, logistics is one of
the most important tools now in disaster relief operations. Type and quantity of the resources,
way of procurement and storage of the supplies, tools of tracking and means transportation to the
stricken area, specialization of teams participating in the operation and plan of cooperation
between these teams, are some important issues that are connected directly to humanitarian
logistics (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

1.2 Logistics & Supply Chain Management from Humanitarian aspect

The activities of ‘‘planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, cost-effective flow of
and storage of goods and materials as well as related information, from point of origin to point of
consumption for the purpose of alleviating the suffering of vulnerable people’’ are known as
‘‘humanitarian logistics’’ (Thomas and Kopczak 2005 p. 2). Briefly, ‘‘for humanitarians,
logistics is the processes and systems involved in mobilizing people, resources, skills and
knowledge to help vulnerable people affected by disaster’’ (Van Wassenhove 2006 p. 476).

In a disaster context, it is of course important to ensure efficient and effective delivery, such that
the appropriate commodities and people reach the victims of the emergency (logistic point of
view). However, optimizing the logistic performance requires that all the relationships among the
actors involved are managed through an integrated approach to efficiently and effectively
coordinate inter-organizational performance, eliminate redundancy, and maximize efficiency
along the entire emergency supply chain (supply chain management point of view). In fact,
though logistics is more focused on moving something or someone from a point of origin to a
destination, supply chain management mainly focuses on relationships among the actors that
make such movement possible. Logistics and supply chain management are both crucial to
properly set the response to a disaster.

HUMANITARIAN LOGISTICS

The term “logistics” refers to the procurement, distribution, maintenance, and replacement of materiel and
personnel. Functions unique to humanitarian logistics include water and sanitation, radio
communications, and construction.

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

A term often used interchangeably with logistics supply chain management (SCM) refers to the
planning, procurement, manufacture and distribution of goods in commercial, military and
humanitarian sectors. In the humanitarian field, SCM is narrower in scope than logistics as the
latter term is taken to cover a number of other functions as well as SCM.

The main role of logisticians is to support the needs of the supply chain; this means they are the
first on the programme and the last to leave it. Their role is to assess needs, establish the liaisons
with partners and beneficiaries, and to assemble infrastructures often in very difficult conditions.

1.3 Challenges, gaps, and trends in humanitarian Logistics

Challenges to Humanitarian Logistics

One of the key challenges of humanitarian logistics operations is that of rapid response.
Humanitarian organizations are wide and varied, each with its own organizational structure,
ways of operating, communicating and making decisions.

Offering a rapid and appropriate response during humanitarian disasters can be a herculean task
requiring complex coordination (Balcik, Beamon, Krejci, Muramatsu, Ramirez, 2009; Long and
Wood, 1995). Challenges to humanitarian logistics include physical destruction, which limits
logistical pathways (Kovacs and Spens, 2007; Samii, 2010); constrained resources, which limit
funding during the disaster (Long and Wood, 1995; Oloruntoba and Gray, 2006; Whiting and
Ayala-Ostrom, 2009; Benini, Conley, Dittemore, Waksman, 2009); federated organizational
structures, which result in autonomous, under-defined, and non-unified operations (Long and
Wood, 1995; Benson, Biggers, Wall, Haselkorn, 2010); and bottom-up decision-making, which
can limit logisticians’ access to decision-makers.

Many scholars have linked the critical need for speed and challenges to humanitarian response to
logistics:

“To save lives and alleviate suffering, the response to international emergencies must be timely,
effective, appropriate, and well organized. This is where logistics can play a key role. Logistics
is central to humanitarian relief. The speed and efficacy of relief programs depends on the ability
of logisticians to procure, transport, receive, and distribute supplies to the site of relief efforts.”
(Russell, 2005)

“The speed of humanitarian aid after a disaster depends ‘on the ability of logisticians to procure,
transport, and receive supplies at the site of humanitarian relief effort.’ ” (Kovacs and Spens,
2007)

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HUMANITARIAN LOGISTICS: CORE CHALLENGES

Lack of Recognition of the Importance of Logistics: Most humanitarian organizations have

two broad categories of activities: programs and support services. Programs refers to the front-
line activities in relief and development, the provision of services such as food, water, shelter,
sanitation, etc. Support services refer to the activities of the “back room”, which support the front
line: logistics, technology, finance, communication, human-resources, etc. Funds are usually
allocated by donors to programs with a certain percentage allowed for administration, which
includes support. Thus, the focus is on shortterm direct relief rather than investment in systems
and processes that will reduce expenses or make relief more effective over the long-term. As a
consequence, logistics and other support services may not have adequate funding for strategic
disaster preparedness, and investing in infrastructure, such as information systems, is
discouraged.

A related challenge has to do with the fact that most decisions during a relief operation are made
by the program staff who control the budget. The assessment team sent to determine the needs of
the population affected by a disaster or humanitarian crisis often does not include a logistician.
Based on the assessment, the program staffs determine the supplies that need to be procured in
order to provide relief services, and then inform logistics that they are responsible for the
immediate procurement and transport to the field. Our survey of the largest aid agencies after the
Tsunami showed that 42% of the assessment teams did not include a logistician. Since, as seen in
the Tsunami response, logisticians are often not consulted in the decision process, some of the
logistics bottlenecks are not anticipated and planned for causing unnecessary delays in delivering
relief.

Lack of Professional Staff: In general, humanitarian organizations are defined by their

personnel, who share a common value system based on alleviating the suffering of those affected
by disasters and humanitarian emergencies. People who choose a career in this world come from
diverse and varied backgrounds and are driven by a desire to resolve crises and do good in the
world. They achieved their positions by trial and error and have honed their valuable skills
through experience in multiple disaster theaters over several decades. However, the vast majority
of people with logistics responsibilities do not have training in logistics. While this is changing
in large multilateral organizations, the trend toward the “professionalization” of logistics has
been slow to take hold as field experience is considered much more valuable than formal training
in logistics.

Also, as the operations of international humanitarian organizations expand to simultaneously

include multiple geographies, organizations are struggling to find people who can manage the
complex supply chains of relief. For example, in order to effectively respond to the Tsunami,

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88% of large aid agencies surveyed had to pull their most qualified staff from the ongoing
humanitarian operations in Darfur.

In conjunction with Erasmus University and APICs, a widely recognized training and
certification body for commercial logistics, Fritz Institute conducted a survey of approximately
300 humanitarian logisticians at the field, regional and headquarters levels of major humanitarian
organizations. The purpose was to identify existing training and certification programs and the
range of logistics functions that they encompassed. Respondents to the survey (92 respondents)
represented a wide variety of organizations including the UN, the Red Cross movement and
international and regional NGOs from headquarters as well as the field.

Over 90% of the respondents indicated that they felt training was directly linked to performance
on the job and that standardized training would be useful in the field. However, only 73% had
access to any logistics training while 27% had no such access. For those with access, training
was most often provided by co-workers on the job or by in-house training staff. However,
respondents noted that job training within organizations tended to be non-standardized, with the
content largely dependent on the trainer. The respondents indicated frustration with lack of
consistency in training, lack of ways to measure the effectiveness of training, lack of funding for
training, and lack of specific training in humanitarian logistics.

Inadequate Use of Technology: Our survey of logisticians that participated in the Tsunami
relief operations showed that only 26% of the respondents had access to any tracking and tracing
software. The remainder used Excel spreadsheets or manual processes for updates and tracking
of the goods arriving in the field. Despite this, 58% stated that they received accurate and timely
information of what was in the pipeline!

In the private sector, supply chain technology has enabled the transformation of the logistics
function from a peripheral to a strategic one. By accumulating data about the supply chain,
decision makers have new ways to create efficiencies. Historical data also allows greater
effectiveness through the tracking of supplier performance, cycle times, inventory levels and
turns, etc. In the humanitarian sector however, logistics and supply chain management is still
largely manual. The inability of IT staff at headquarters to understand the imperatives of the
field, the primacy of financial managers in decisions about software used in organizations, and
the need to keep networks secure are the main reasons that humanitarian logisticians cite as the
cause of the slow evolution of IT.

Lack of Institutional Learning: The intensity of relief efforts, high turnover and the crisis-
oriented nature of disaster response creates an environment in which there is a lack of
institutional learning. Once a crisis is dealt with, aid workers are immediately assigned to the
next mission, rather than taking the time needed to reflect and improve. Or they leave. 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

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done under the most adverse and extreme circumstances, the lessons learned from one disaster to
the next are often lost. The experience of the occasional veteran logistician is largely tacit and
difficult to communicate to the next generation, nor is it transferred from one field context to
another.

Limited Collaboration: With the emerging competition for funding among major relief
organizations, the heads of logistics tend to each fight their own battles with little collaboration.
Although many of them face the same challenges and know each other, or of each other, they do
not often meet or talk to one another except during an actual disaster response operation. For
example, we found that several of them were thinking of deploying a regional warehouse
structure for faster response. Coincidentally, three were actually talking with warehouse
providers in the same city. Similarly, two others had commissioned expensive analyses to select
a fleet management system and three were wrestling with the idea of a training program for field
logisticians. None knew that their counterparts had the same objectives and, therefore, there was
little collaboration or resource sharing. Similarly, in the Tsunami relief operations we found that
just over half the logisticians (56%) reported working with other agencies in setting up their
supply chains.

1.4 Logistics skills and performance

In order to achieve an improvement in pre-disaster preparation and post-disaster response, one
area of focus has been that of the training and education needs of humanitarian logisticians.
However, the development of such programmes must clearly be grounded in a good
understanding of the skills and attributes needed by humanitarian logisticians. Logistics skills
can be described in terms of a “T-shaped model” that combines the breadth of general
management skills, problem-solving and people management skills with the depth of
“functional” logistics skills (Mangan et al., 2009). In other words, the modern logistician
requires a combination of both hard technical and operational knowledge and rather softer
business skills (van Hoek et al., 2002; Vereecke et al., 2008).

In summary, logistics skills have been described in terms of a T-shaped model that combines the
soft skills of management with functional logistics skills (Mangan and Christopher, 2005).
Within this, four groups of skills can be distinguished: general management skills, problem-
solving skills, interpersonal (people management) skills, and functional logistics skills. Figure 1
summarizes the skills in each group.

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Figure 1. The T-shaped model of logistics skills

In addition to issues relating to career development and the development of educational

programmes, Wouters and Wilderom (2008) have also shown a positive link between different
skill sets and the logistics performance of an organization. Understanding the skill sets needed
for humanitarian logisticians may, therefore, ultimately contribute to an improved logistics
performance for humanitarian organizations.

Required Competencies: (Knowledge, Skills….)

Knowledge A Logistics Manager should have knowledge of management

systems, health and safety regulations, public safety and
security, customer and personal service, transportation
principles and methods, production and processing, education
and training, material handling, administration and
management, supply chain, computers and electronics, English
language, other languages, mathematics, and personnel and
human resources.

Skills A Logistics Manager should have the following skill sets:

coordination, active listening, critical thinking, reading
comprehension, writing, monitoring, service orientation, time
management, judgment and decision making and active
learning.

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1.5 Characteristics of humanitarian supply chain
Definition

In general businesses, supply chain links the sources of supply (suppliers) to the owners of
demand (end customers). The ultimate goal of any supply chain is to deliver the right supplies in
the right quantities to the right locations at the right time. Supply chains comprise all activities
and processes associated with the flow and transformation of goods from the raw material stage
through the end user (Beamon and Balcik, 2008). Similar to commercial supply chain, supplies
flow through the relief chain from the donation to the consumers. There is no single form of
humanitarian supply chain, although a typical supply chain could follow the sequence in Figure
1. Government and NGOs are the primary parties involved (Ergun et al., 2009). Governments
hold the main power with the control they have over political and economical conditions and
directly affect to supply chain processes with their decisions. Donors, public and private
organizations are the other significant players in the humanitarian supply chains. Donors have
become particularly influential in prompting humanitarian organization to think in terms of
greater donor accountability and transparency of the whole supply chain (Wassenhove, 2006).
Two-way arrow in the figure represents two-way communications in information, product and
fund flows among the parties in the humanitarian chain.

According to McLachlin et al. (2009), humanitarian supply chains tend to be unstable, prone to
political and military influence, and inefficient due to lack of joint planning and inter-
organizational collaboration. They deal with inadequate logistics infrastructure, along with
shifting origins of and/or destinations for relief supplies without warning.

Further, donors often request their funds be spent on direct materials and food, and even at a
particular disaster location, rather than on crucial but indirect services such as information
systems, staff training, and/or disaster preparedness (Oloruntoba and Gray, 2006; Wassenhove,
2006; Kovacs and Spen, 2007). Therefore, humanitarian supply chain management does not only
deal with delivering goods, materials or information to the point of consumption for the purpose
of alleviating the suffering of vulnerable people, but also need to manage value to donors and
other stakeholders.

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FIGURE 2; A TYPICAL HUMANITARIAN SUPPLY CHAIN

The Fritz Institute defines humanitarian logistics as the process of planning, implementing, and
controlling the efficient, cost-effective flow and storage of goods, and materials, as well as
related information, from point of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of
alleviating the suffering of vulnerable people (http://www.fritzinstitute.org).

The function encompasses a range of activities, including preparedness, planning, procurement,

transport, warehousing, tracking and tracing, and custom clearance (Thomas and Kopczak,
2005). Considering at the meaning of humanitarian logistics, it focus mainly on alleviating the
affected people while the definition of humanitarian supply chain is broader and cope with more
activities to response to the stakeholders in the supply chain.

Characteristics

Even though the structure of humanitarian chains is similar to most business supply chains, the
humanitarian supply chain is often unstable (Oloruntoba and Gray, 2006). As a result,
coordination and management of disaster supply chains are increasingly needed and must be put
in place in the humanitarian supply chains. Goals, revenue sources, and performance metrics of
humanitarian and regular supply chains differ notably. Unlike the humanitarian supply chains,
which do not have any profit targets and rely heavily on volunteers and donors, in regular supply
chains, stakeholders are the “owners” of the chain. The source of revenue for humanitarian
supply chain is government funding, charitable donations from individuals and corporation, and
in-kind donations. The goal of humanitarian supply chain is to be able to respond to multiple
interventions, as quickly as possible and within a short time frame (Wassenhove, 2006). In
addition, performance measurement in the nonprofit sector include the intangibility of the
services offered, immeasurability of the missions, unknowable outcomes, and the variety,
interests and standards of stakeholders (Beamon and Balcik, 2008).

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More comparison is given in Table 1.
Topic Business SCM Humanitarian SCM
Main objective Maximize profit save lives and help beneficiaries
Demand pattern fairly stable Irregular
Supply pattern mostly predictable unsolicited donations and in-kind donation
Flow type Commercial products Resources like vehicles, shelters, food, drugs
Lead time mostly predetermined approximately zero lead time
Inventory control Safety stocks Challenging inventory control
Delivery network structure Location of warehouses, DCs Distribution facilities
Technology Highly developed technology less technology is used.
Performance measurement Based on standard supply chain Time to respond the disaster, meeting donor
Methods Metric expectation, percentage of demand supplied

Research shows that humanitarian supply chains also differ from commercial ones because of
ambiguous objectives, limited human and capital resources, high levels of uncertainty, and the
politicized environment (Tomasini and Van Wassenhove, 2009). Ambiguous objectives make it
difficult to assess the level of commitment of the different actors often operating uncoordinated,
and spontaneously. Limited human resources are the result of high staff turnover and a scarce
pool of qualified and readily deployable personnel, whereas capital resources are subject to
unpredictable donations that limit the liquidity of managers in the field. Uncertainty directly
affects the quality of the assessments of supply and demand. All this in an environment subject
to the political agendas of the different actors involved including donors, governments, military,
and aid agencies.

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 Chapter Two
Logistics & Humanitarianisms
1. Disasters – General Aspects
The term “disaster” is usually applied to a breakdown in the normal functioning of a community
that has a significant adverse impact on people, their works, and their environment,
overwhelming local response capacity. This situation may be the result of a natural event—say, a
hurricane or earthquake—or it may be the result of human activity.

Some organizations make a distinction between “disasters”—the result of natural phenomena—

and “complex emergencies” that are the product of armed conflicts or large-scale violence and
often lead to massive displacements of people, famine, and outflows of refugees. Examples
would include the Balkan crisis, the Ethiopian, Somali and Sudanese famines, the genocide in
Rwanda and the violence in East Timor.

Each disaster is unique—its effects not only have to do with the type of natural or man-made
phenomenon, but also with the economic, health, and social conditions of the area. However,
there are common features, and identifying them can help improve the management of
humanitarian assistance and the use of resources. The following aspects should be taken into
account when considering the nature of a disaster.

1. There is a correlation between the type of disaster and its impact on health, particularly the
occurrence of injuries. For instance, earth-quakes cause many traumas that demand medical
attention, while floods tend to produce relatively few injuries;

2. Some of a disaster’s effects do not have an immediate impact on public health, but pose a
potential threat. Population displacements and environmental changes may increase the risk of a
spread in communicable diseases. In general, though, epidemics are not caused by natural
disasters;

3. Immediate and potential health hazards in the aftermath of a disaster seldom materialize
simultaneously; they tend to strike at different times, and with variable intensity within the
affected area. Thus, injuries tend to happen at the time and place of the impact, demanding
immediate medical attention, while the risk of an increase in communicable diseases evolves
more slowly and reaches maximum intensity with overcrowding and breakdowns in hygiene;

4. After a disaster, the need for food, clothing, shelter, and primary health care is rarely absolute;
even the displaced often have the resources to satisfy some of their own basic needs. Moreover,
it is common for the victims of a disaster to recover quickly from the initial shock and participate

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spontaneously in search and rescue efforts and other relief initiatives, such as the storage and
distribution of emergency supplies;

5. Wars and civil conflicts generate a particular set of health problems and operational obstacles.
Overcoming them requires dealing with many political, social, ethnic and geographical issues.

Effective humanitarian relief management is based on anticipating problems and identifying

them as they arise, and providing specific supplies at the right time where they are most needed.

2. Main Effects of Disasters

The various effects of disasters on the population and its surroundings generate different kinds of
needs and require different approaches to meet those needs. It is therefore important to have a
general sense of what these effects are, and which systems are most commonly affected.
However, experience shows that the effects in question cannot be taken as absolutes, since the
impact and form a disaster takes depends on the specifics of the affected region. Bearing this in
mind, the following is an overview of some basic characteristics of these effects.

Social Reactions

The behavior of disaster victims rarely explodes into general panic or sinks into stunned apathy.
After the initial shock, people tend to start acting positively to meet well-defined personal goals,
leading to an increase in individual activities that, in spite of being spontaneous, quickly self-
organize into collective endeavors. Earthquake survivors, for instance, are usually the first to
engage in search and rescue efforts, often within minutes of the impact; in a matter of hours, self-
organized groups have already assigned themselves specific tasks that play a key role in relief
and recovery.

It is only in exceptional circumstances that actively antisocial behavior such as looting takes
place. However, sometimes individuals’ spontaneous reactions, while perfectly rational from the
point of view of self interest, can prove detrimental to the community as a whole, as when public
utility employees do not show up at the workplace until they have taken steps to ensure the
safety of their family and possessions.

Since rumors abound after a disaster, especially concerning epidemics, the authorities may face
tremendous pressure to adopt emergency measures, such as massive vaccination campaigns
against typhoid or cholera, without there being solid public health evidence for doing so.
Moreover, many people are reluctant to apply the measures considered necessary by the
authorities.

After an early warning has been issued concerning a major risk, and even after a disaster has
actually taken place, many are reluctant to be evacuated, although their homes may no longer be
safe or, quite simply, may no longer exist.

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Communicable Diseases

Natural disasters do not cause massive outbreaks of infectious diseases, although in some
circumstances they may increase the odds of their spreading. In the short term, the increase in
morbidity is frequently the result of fecal contamination of drinking water and food, causing
gastrointestinal diseases.

The risk of epidemic outbreaks of communicable diseases is proportional to the density and
displacement of the population, since these factors degrade living conditions and substantially
increase the demand for drinking water and food, which tend to be scarce in such circumstances.
In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, the risk of contamination grows—as in the case of
refugee camps—as existing sanitation services such as water supply and sewerage systems break
down and it becomes impossible to maintain or restore public health programs.

In the case of complex disasters, malnutrition, overcrowding, and the lack of basic sanitary
conditions are frequent. In such circumstances, outbreaks of cholera and other diseases have
occurred.

Population Displacements

When large population displacements take place, whether spontaneous or organized,

humanitarian assistance becomes crucial—and urgent. People tend to flock to urban areas, where
public services do not have the capability to handle sudden, very large increases in the
population served, leading to increased mortality and morbidity rates. If the disaster destroys
most homes in a given area, large local “migrations” may take place within the same urban
environment, as victims look for shelter in the homes of relatives and friends.

In situations in which large numbers of the population flee their homes due to war or other forms
of violence, and the threat to life is imminent, organized reactions are much less likely, since the
chief priority of the victims is to get away from the danger as quickly as possible. In these cases,
the timely intervention of international aid organizations can still make the difference between
life and death. Even so, these agencies may find among these populations attitudes of mutual
assistance and organized response that can maximize the effectiveness of the intervention.

Exposure to the Elements

Health hazards associated with exposure to the elements are not common in temperate zones,
even after a disaster, as long as the displaced are kept in dry places where they can remain
sheltered from the wind and cold. However, in other climates with significant extremes in
temperature, whether too hot or too cold, proper shelter can be vital. Hence, the need to provide
emergency shelter should not be seen as a given, but depends instead, to a large extent, on local
circumstances.

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Food and Nutrition

Food shortages in the aftermath of a disaster are generally due to two causes. The first is the
destruction of food stocks in the affected area, which combines with personal losses to reduce the
immediate availability or affordability of food. The second is disorganized distribution systems,
which may contribute to shortages even if there is no absolute scarcity of food.

After an earthquake, lack of food is rarely severe enough to cause malnutrition. River floods and
unusually high tides causing coastal flooding may affect food stocks and ruin crops, as well as
interfering with distribution. Efficient food distribution may be a key need in the short term, but
large-scale imports or donations of food are seldom needed.

One crucial exception must be mentioned. In the case of mass displacements of people, the
victims do not carry much in the way of provisions, if they carry anything at all. All too
frequently, supplies in the population centers that play host to them are insufficient and are
quickly.

Water Supply and Sewerage

Water supply and sewage systems are especially vulnerable to natural disasters. The interruption
of such services leads to severe health risks. These systems are widely distributed, often poorly
maintained or in disrepair even before a disaster strikes, and exposed to a variety of hazards.
Deficiencies in the quantity and quality of drinking water, or the safe disposal of fecal and other
human waste, bring about a degradation of sanitary services, which in turn contributes to creating
favorable conditions for the spread of water-borne diseases.

Mental Health

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, anxiety, neurosis and depression are not a major public
health issue, and can generally be handled temporarily by other members of rural or traditional
communities without external support. Confounding expectations, it is relief workers who may
comprise a high-risk group. Whenever possible, all efforts must be made to preserve the social
structure of families and communities. Likewise, the indiscriminate use of sedatives or
tranquilizers during the relief stage of the disaster must be vigorously discouraged.

In the industrialized or urbanized areas of developing countries, a significant increase in mental

health problems often accompanies the longterm rehabilitation and reconstruction phase.
Treatment must be provided.

Special reference must be made to the traumas that are the result of contact with the horrors of
armed confrontation and other forms of extreme violence. The violent death, disappearance, or
injury of relatives and friends aggravates the trauma, which generally calls for protracted
therapy.

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Damage to Infrastructure

Natural disasters frequently cause severe damage to key facilities, affecting the health of those
sectors of the community that depend on the services provided. In the case of hospitals and
health centers whose structure is unsafe, natural disasters put its occupants at risk and limit
institutional capacity to provide services to the victims. The 1985 Mexico City earthquake
triggered the collapse of 13 hospitals. In three of them alone, 866 people died, including 100
hospital staffers; some 6,000 beds were lost. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch damaged or destroyed the
water supply systems of 23 hospitals in Honduras and affected 123 health centers. The disasters
set off by the El Niño phenomenon in Peru between 1997 and 1998 affected almost 10% of the
country’s health services.

These destructive effects also have an impact on infrastructure, equipment, and other useful
resources for managing the arrival, storage, and distribution of emergency supplies.

3. Logistics and emergencies

Originally the term “logistics” referred to a military technique for the transportation,
provisioning, and mobilization of troops. Today, it has practical applications in the civil sector.
In general, it deals with a system in which the interrelation of the parts facilitates reaching an
objective faster, in a more orderly fashion, and more efficiently through optimal resource
utilization. This implies that the success or failure of one of the segments has repercussions on
the final outcome.

Many business organizations have, under this or another name, a logistics department that
coordinates, through a logical and sequential system, all aspects related to the purchase,
transportation, maintenance, inventory, and flow of raw materials and, in general, to activities of
the manufacturing and marketing processes.

In emergency operations, logistics is required to support the organization and implementation of

response actions for them to be prompt, quick, and effective. The mobilization of personnel,
equipment, and material necessary for the work of assistance organizations, plus the activities
related to the evaluation of casualties and relocation of populations affected by the disaster,
require a logistic system in order to be implemented efficiently.

4. Logistics planning and preparedness

This section does not necessarily refer to how to plan the logistics system for emergencies, but it
does attempt to provide some basic components for its elaboration as well as to stress that
planning is a crucial and determining factor.

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Logistics activities may be planned and they require a preparation that will be decisive in their
appropriate implementation. Therefore, the erroneous idea that logistics may be improvised at
the moment of a disaster depending on needs “indicated by the situation” must be eliminated, the
reason being for this that both the disasters we are exposed to and the needs that arise from them
are usually predictable.

In fact, logistics must be an active component of any country’s National Emergency Plan as well
as of the plans of particular organizations that intervene in disasters. Logistics should be related
to other operational activities in the response context.

The plan

Planning and precaution are vital to establish an adequate logistics system. This planning should
be based on good knowledge of the geographic, social, political, and physical context in which
the operations are to be implemented. Building this system also requires an effective
implementation and operational plan, one that has to be understood by all involved in its
application.

This plan should respond to the following questions with clear, detailed answers:

Which tasks are to be performed? How do they relate to other activities, and what is the
sequence for their implementation?

Who are responsible for these tasks? (Rather than just individuals, sections or departments
should be identified).

Who will be in charge of the global coordination of the logistics system?

Which resources will be necessary? How and where will they be acquired?

Which alternative actions will be implemented in case the defined system breaks down?

The preparations

This implies a list of preparation activities that require an important investment of effort but that
will contribute greatly to improve the knowledge of the possible areas of operation, to identify
weaknesses, potential needs, and possible solutions and alternatives. These activities, which are
described below, may be performed regionally, depending on the size of the country, beginning
with those considered high-risk areas. Otherwise, organizations may prioritize their geographic
intervention areas.

These activities, in turn, are directly related to the vulnerability and resource assessment that
must be done for the elaboration of a national or regional emergency plan. We insist on the fact
that logistics must be a component of such a plan.

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a. Infrastructure vulnerability assessment

This aims at identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the country’s or region’s real estate
properties and resources under study as well as at forecasting alternative actions in case the
available infrastructure collapses. Some tasks to be developed are:

- Systematic mapping and revision of key elements of the national transportation infrastructure
(shipping ports, airports, roads, railroads, navigation facilities), such as capacities and difficulties
of strategic routes, possible bottleneck points (bridges, ferries); communication resources
availability; risks and blockage due to the event’s impact. It is vital to determine the vulnerability
of ports and airports to hazards. This may include, for instance, hangar, storeroom, and refueling
equipment exposure to the effects of a cyclone, or the impact of an earthquake on key systems.

-Analysis of annual climate records to determine weather impact on the transportation system
capacity in different seasons.

-Regular monitoring of large modifications or constructions that may cause temporary blockages
or detours. For example, a bridge’s weight and width restrictions, closing of a road due to
reparations, etc.

b. Determining the availability of strategic resources for logistic support

These resources are changeable, thus a periodic and frequent review is required to keep
information on them as up to date as possible. This review should include the private sector, the
public sector (governmental institutions resources), and the nongovernmental sector (both
national and international organizations):

-Do a nationwide inventory of the sources and location of different kinds of supplies that could
be needed during an emergency, including medical equipment, food products, blankets, fuel, and
rescue equipment. The analysis should include delivery time for the supply of critical resources.

-Analyze the means of transportation to mobilize people and supplies: a detailed review of
transportation capability, such as fleet size, type and capacity, location, rates, availability, etc.

-Examine sites for the operation of logistic bases, collection centers, and refueling points,
including public and private facilities, large storage complexes, factories, and other facilities that
could be adapted.

-List availability of spare parts and access to both public and private repair shops.

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-Check port and airport capacity to handle emergency supplies under different scenarios. Assess
other transportation options: determine routes and alternate options that may be used in case of
emergency.

c. Revision of governmental policies, plans, and preparedness

For NGO it is very important to know what the State’s policies and plans are regarding
emergencies. The Government, being through its disaster office, the main responsible entity for
relief actions, it is essential for organizations to be part of such activities and coordinate with
these organizations. Likewise, contact should be taken advantage of to reach the previous
agreements or mutual collaboration and facilitation of our organization’s activities in times of
emergency, such as tax exemptions for humanitarian supplies, priority treatment at customs, etc.

All the data gathered and the activities performed in this planning and logistic preparedness
phase should be the basis for devising a plan that describes the procedures, responsible parties,
and time needed for their execution.

5. Assessing Logistical and Supply Needs

The Importance of Needs Assessment

Assessing logistical and supply needs is crucial to determine as accurately as possible:

_ The needs of the population after a disaster;

_ Available local capacity and resources;

_ Complementary capabilities and resources required for meeting those needs.

Such assessments should be fully integrated into the general needs assessment process that is
carried out in a disaster area to determine the type and severity of the damage and the most
urgent intervention priorities. The quality of this assessment is very important, since requests for
supplies will be based on the disaster situation as identified on the ground.

It should be emphasized that the need for accurate assessments should not lead to paralysis.
While assessments are the tool that enables relief managers to identify the affected sectors and
the nature of the damage, and to quantify and qualify more precisely the type of assistance
required, there is no need for them to be completed before the most pressing relief actions are
undertaken.

Needs assessments should make it possible to answer the following questions:

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_ What are the needs?

a . What are the needs of the population?

b . What are the operational needs?

_What is available capacity?

a . What is the capacity of the local infrastructure?

b . What resources (including human and information resources) are available locally?

_ What factors may hinder or facilitate relief efforts?

_ What are the social, cultural and environmental characteristics of the potential disaster area that
may have a bearing on the effectiveness of the relief efforts?

It is important to determine not just the needs of the affected population, but also of the
organizations in charge of providing relief assistance.

Some of the key questions that need to be answered are the following:

_ What is needed?

_ How much is needed?

_ When is it needed? (Is it urgent?)

_ Where is it needed?

We also know that disasters are dynamic, changing processes. Accordingly, an assessment of this
sort must not only help us to identify the current situation, but also to foresee likely needs in the
future.

Needs of the Population

As we have seen, it is important not to stereotype disasters, since the needs they generate depend
not only on the kind of event but also on the socioeconomic and other characteristics of the
affected region or country. Nevertheless, experience shows that some aspects of everyday life are
more likely to be affected by disasters, making it possible to foresee the most probable needs for
survival.

Such aspects include the following:

_ Health care: Most catastrophic events tend to affect public health to a greater or lesser extent,
generating additional or urgent needs in this area.

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_ Availability of water: It is common for drinking water supply systems to suffer damage or fail
to function.

_Availability of food: Not all events lead to dwindling stocks of food, but people who have lost
their homes or belongings will likely require some temporary support in this regard.

_ Shelter: The impact of a disaster might force people to look for temporary shelter until they
resolve their housing situation.

_ Sanitation: The generally sudden disruptions of the everyday functioning of a community, as

well as the displacement or temporary resettlement of the victims, can cause environmental
degradation and imperil health due to a rise in unsanitary conditions.

Bearing in mind which kind of disaster we are facing, we can come to preliminary conclusions
on what type of assistance will most likely be necessary, and launch an appropriate response in
the field until more thorough assessments reveal to us in greater detail the needs that must be
met.

Operational Needs

All too often, local organizations involved in emergency response do not have the resources to
respond effectively to a disaster. It is therefore important to determine what resources an
organization has (or is lacking), and what is required for relief operations to be carried out
effectively. If logistical planning and preparations have taken place before the event, this will
make it easier to determine which resources are available—and which are lacking and must be
procured elsewhere. (See also the section on Logistics Planning and Preparedness)

Assessment of Local Capacity

By local capacity we mean not only the physical resources available at the site of an emergency,
but any factors that may help emergency supply management, such as local knowledge of the
terrain or weather patterns, or social capital in the form of community organizations, formal and
informal communications channels, and the like.

Local Infrastructure Capacity

Since disasters tend to affect lifelines, including roads and infrastructure in general, it is essential
to carry out a quick inventory of their availability and operational capacity for the mobilization
and reception of incoming supplies.

From the point of view of infrastructure, the following issues must be dealt with:

_ The state of roads, waterways, and other transport infrastructure needed to guarantee the arrival
of emergency supplies in the region or country that has been affected. Are there any restrictions
on their effective use, such as the threat of landslides blocking access to a town, or a landing strip

20
that may be unavailable in the event of flooding? Are any changes being contemplated, such as
the digging of a tunnel? Is maintenance so deficient that the infrastructure is becoming
increasingly vulnerable to the impact of an earthquake or hurricane?

_ The existence and availability of supply storage facilities;

_ The existence and availability of means of transport;

_ The state and capacity of points of arrival (airports, ports, borders, and so on). Are there any
restrictions on their use? Are changes in the works, such as the expansion of a runway? Is
maintenance a problem?

Local Availability of Resources

One can frequently find the necessary supplies locally, or at least not far from the emergency
zone. Part of our assessment, then, must involve identifying the existence and location of such
resources. Attention should not be paid only to commercially available goods that need to be
purchased; there may also be public, and even private, resources that can eventually be put to use
in relief efforts. This applies to resources for the affected population as well those required by
relief organizations.

Factors That May Restrict or Facilitate Relief Efforts

Many factors may hinder or, alternatively, facilitate relief efforts. For instance, during a complex
emergency, or in particular political contexts, national authorities may restrict humanitarian
operations and supplies. A government may ban foreign-based relief organizations from entering
the disaster or conflict area, or even the country itself. Another may put forward religious,
political, or health reasons for preventing the arrival of a given product or material.

On the other hand, some governments may adopt exceptional measures to facilitate the efforts of
relief organizations and the arrival of humanitarian assistance into the country or the area where
operations are underway. This would include offering priority treatment at customs, lowering or
eliminating tariffs and taxes, or making government facilities available to humanitarian
operations.

The assessment report must mention the existence of any such measures, since they will have an
impact on the supplies that may or may not be used and the movement of relief teams.
Restrictions may have to be circumvented, while favorable measures should be maximized.

Other Relevant Issues

Any other information that may affect supply availability, transport and distribution should also
be recorded to assist in decision-making—weather forecasts, other events related to the event

21
causing the emergency, or safety and security considerations that must be taken into account
regarding the movement and positioning of supplies.

Social, Environmental and Cultural Features of the Affected Population and

Region
In order to provide the most appropriate and effective assistance to the affected population, it is
imperative to identify and understand their social and cultural customs, as well as environmental
characteristics of the area they occupy.

This information must be taken into account when making decisions about the type of supplies
needed, how they can best be distributed, and how they are likely to be used—in the case of
clothing, housing, or household items—or consumed, when it comes to water, food, and drink.

The following are essential tasks:

_ Identifying the population’s dietary habits, including the types of food they will not consume
for religious, cultural, or traditional rea- sons, the kitchen utensils they use for cooking, and any
other relevant information that can help determine what kind of assistance to offer and what kind
to avoid;

_ Identifying local and regional producers before asking for food assistance or negotiating the
acquisition of food in other regions;

_ Finding out what type of clothes are used, and which ones are not worn due to cultural or
environmental reasons;

_ Identifying the most common types of housing and construction materials, including the
cultural or environmental reasons, if any, for such buildings and building practices;

_ Collecting information about the needs and type of assistance considered a priority by the
community itself;

_ Identifying ethnic or cultural minorities & their specific needs, in order to prevent any form of
exclusion.

Once again, a proper assessment will help to guide the decisions needed to provide appropriate
and effective assistance. Defining the need for specific supplies must be done as part of the
overall assessment of the emergency.

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 Chapter-3
Coordination
The actors who intervene in relief operations are diverse, with different mandates and working
methods. Although they all share the desire to help, lack of coordination is common in
emergency situations. Disputes between organizations, or the unwillingness to share information
and work side by side, can delay the provision of care to disaster victims, lead to duplication of
efforts, and waste valuable resources.

To prevent this predicament, and to maximize available resources and expertise, relief efforts
should be launched in a spirit of coordination. This will be possible to the extent that
participating organizations know each other, share information, identify and acknowledge their
respective strengths, and explore ways of collaborating and supporting each other.

Coordination Structures
The Actors

Minor emergencies are generally handled by specialized national or local agencies, perhaps with
the collaboration of international organizations present in the country. However, when an event
is catastrophic, other sectors of the nation and the international community must often mobilize
to provide relief. The increase in the arrival of emergency supplies and response personnel places
an extra burden on the efforts to coordinate relief on the ground. It is crucial to establish effective
working relationships with the following stakeholders:

_ The local population: The residents of the affected area are the first to engage in search and
rescue operations, and often among the first to share vital supplies such as food and water with
victims of the disaster.

_ Neighboring communities or regions: It is also common for neighboring communities or even

countries to respond quickly with donations and the sending of volunteers.

_ The national and local governments: A significant adverse event generally prompts the
intervention, not only of the national disaster response agency, but of other government bodies as
well.

_ Foreign governments: The governments of other nations intervene through their embassies and
their bilateral cooperation agencies. This assistance, which occurs between the two governments,
may include financial and in-kind donations, the financing of rehabilitation and reconstruction
projects, or the sending of consultants and experts.

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_ Multilateral agencies: These are mostly intergovernmental agencies, such as those of the
United Nations, whose mandate includes disaster reduction or humanitarian assistance.
Generally, their support focuses on technical assistance related to their own field of expertise,
sending consultants and experts, or supporting the allocation of resources to help the affected
country in rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

_ Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs): National and international, religious or social, their

capabilities, experience and resources cover a wide spectrum. Some international NGOs
specialize in emergency management, and their skills and resources are tailored for disaster
situations.

_ The private sector: National or transnational in scope, for-profit corporations can get involved
at different levels, from donations to providing specialized services in areas such as
transportation, warehouse rentals, or the sale or in-kind donation of equipment, food and drugs.

_ Specialized institutions: These can provide highly valuable technical assistance in areas such as
vulnerability assessments and risk reduction, needs assessment, and more concrete efforts such
as water purification or medical supply management.

_ Military institutions: A country’s armed forces have the experience and equipment to support
logistical operations. They have their own means of transport, including sophisticated aircraft
such as helicopters, highly flexible and deployable human resources, and essential skills in
crucial fields such as rapid road repair and bridge construction. When the armed forces are taking
active part in a conflict, however, their involvement in relief operations must be closely reviewed
and might not be advisable for security reasons.

Coordination Mechanisms
It must be borne in mind that most countries have a national focal point—a National Emergency
Commission, Civil Defense or Civil Protection—in charge of disaster response. It is generally a
permanent structure, with its own budget and organizational structure. At times, however,
governments establish temporary, ad hoc structures to respond to a particular disaster which will,
at some point, transfer responsibility for their activities to permanent government agencies.
Regardless of the arrangement involved, it makes sense, in order to discourage the duplication of
efforts, to try to channel all emergency assistance through such structures.

The tasks of coordinating relief efforts must be viewed from a cross-sectoral, inter-institutional,
and interdisciplinary perspective. They should also, obviously, start long before an emergency
takes place, and be reinforced during a catastrophic event. Some of the key activities during
these two crucial stages in the coordination process are the following:

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During the Preparedness Phase

_ Determine who is supposed to do what in the context of humanitarian intervention: which

national, international, governmental, nonprofit organizations are present in the country, and
what are their specialties and fields of action;

_ Carry out frequent meetings and coordination activities to decide and even rehearse what is to
be done before, during, and after an emergency;

_ Develop joint plans and seek collaborative agreements with the various organizations for the
stages before, during, and after an emergency;

_ Carry out inventories (national, regional, or institutional, as the case may be) of resources and
contacts that would prove useful in the event of an emergency, and keep the inventories up to
date;

_ Exchange information about resources that may be useful in the event of an emergency,
whether the resources are in the hands of participating organizations or come from another
source.

During the Response Phase

_ Carry out joint assessments of the situation in the field. This can be extremely useful, since it
allows for an interdisciplinary view of the emergency and makes it easier to identify areas for
inter-agency collaboration;

_ Maintain close and permanent contact between the various organizations involved;

_ Share among the organizations the results of any assessments and findings with a view to
finding fields of action where the strengths of the various organizations can complement each
other;

_ Share information about the activities undertaken and planned by each organization, to prevent
duplication of efforts;

_ Promote the exchange of resources among the organizations, as well as the development and
implementation of cooperation agreements;

_ In emergency situations that require a complex response, establish specialized working groups
with representatives from all relevant organizations. Examples include a water and sanitation
group, or a medical assistance group.

Cooperation Agreements

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Disaster response organizations’ primary goal is to provide relief to those in need. Depending on
its nature and history, each organization tends to specialize, to a greater or lesser extent, in a
given work area. It is also evident that no agency, on its own, can handle all the logistical
problems attending a natural catastrophe.

The way in which international donors transfer resources for humanitarian assistance has led to
the emergence of many new relief organizations and the entrance of existing institutions into this
field, resulting in intense competition among these organizations for external resources.

In spite of this competition, it is essential to develop mutual support and cooperation agreements,
so that humanitarian assistance can be delivered promptly and relief efforts can complement each
other. These agreements must be both specific and feasible, so as not to create false expectations.

Requests for Humanitarian Assistance

Calls on the International Community

When the impact of a disaster is such that it overwhelms national response capacity, a call for
help soon goes out to the international community. This is the responsibility of the national
government, and the requests for assistance are usually channeled by embassies and the country
offices of the various UN bodies. The crucial point, again, is not to make such requests until
needs have been assessed and it is clear that they cannot be met with local resources. Only then
can international solidarity provide emergency relief that is truly useful.

As part of disaster preparedness efforts, the foreign ministries of some countries—regrettably

few—have issued guidelines to their diplomatic representatives abroad in the event of a disaster.
These guidelines are meant to help the diplomats inform the authorities, potential donors, and the
public about the impact of the event, the needs of the victims, and the type of assistance that
would prove most valuable in the circumstances, based on official reports issued by those
responsible for disaster response.

Ideally, this should help to identify and screen aid offers, reducing the number of inappropriate
donations and helping to make sure that useful supplies arrive when and where they are most
needed.

Similarly, the country offices of international organizations may call on headquarters or other
counterparts in the region to provide humanitarian assistance. Normally, these organizations
have their own procedures for mobilizing aid. It goes without saying that when calling for
donations, they should apply the same criteria outlined above.

Information Exchange and Coordination with International Organizations

International organizations, whether they have a country office or send delegations when a
disaster occurs, are excellent vehicles for identifying sources of appropriate assistance, procuring

26
the aid and channeling it to the victims. It is therefore vital to establish mechanisms to keep them
informed of the evolution of the situation in the field of operations and the needs as they are
identified.

Instructions for Donors

Guiding potential donors, not just about the type of assistance needed, but also about the most
appropriate way to make it reach its destination, is extremely important. International
organizations with ample experience in disaster relief claim that there are some supplies and
forms of assistance that should never be the subject of an open, massive appeal:

_ Used clothing and footwear: Generally, needs of this sort are met locally. In any case, for
reasons of hygiene and convenience, it is best to obtain such items locally;

_ Pharmaceutical products: The arrival of drugs of every sort in all kinds of presentations,
quantities, and packaging only serves to distract already overstretched human and logistical
resources, since the drugs need to be classified, labeled and, often, discarded or destroyed;

_ Food: The sending of food of any sort should not be encouraged, at least not as a given. In the
event that food should be needed, donors should be advised to send non-perishable goods that
can be adapted to local consumption patterns and correctly labeled;

_ Blood and blood derivatives: Once again, local donations are usually enough to satisfy local
needs. Moreover, the arrival of such products from abroad causes more difficulties than benefits,
from the health and logistical point of view;

_ Medical and paramedical personnel: Generally, national health services can cope with the need
for medical care during an emergency. Should additional human resources be needed, it is
always better for them to come from another part of the country than from abroad;

_ Other specialized personnel: Generally, national relief organizations have enough staff to meet
the basic requirements of an emergency. Any need for specialized assistance should be handled
directly through the relevant organizations, to prevent a rush of unneeded "experts";

_ Field hospitals: These are not recommended; by the time they have been set up and are ready to
operate, local health services and facilities will probably have been restored;

_ Medical equipment, new or old: Medical equipment is rarely needed or, if necessary, it is
generally highly specific, to be dealt with by asking specialized organizations, not by
broadcasting a general appeal;

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_ Tents: New trends in disaster response discourage their use. Should they be needed, it is always
better to exhaust the possibilities of local procurement, preventing the technical difficulties and
cost of having them sent in from abroad.

It should be stressed that in very specific cases it might be necessary to request some material or
aid of the kind listed above. However, these cases should be addressed by asking a specialized
institution and providing all the specifications of the supplies needed. Such items should not be
included in lists used for general appeals.

The best approach is to ask the national and international community only for those supplies and
assistance that will be unquestionably useful as determined by an assessment of real needs.

Whenever possible, cash donations are preferable since they can be used to purchase supplies
and services locally, saving the time and resources required for shipping and storing supplies.
Another key consideration is how supplies are sent. Guidelines for donors should take into
account the following:

_ Consignments should be sorted by product before they are dispatched. Donors must be asked
not to mix different products in the same package;

_ Consignments should be classified in advance, and packed according to standard categories;

_ Consignments should be labeled and identified, ideally in the local language, or else in a
language that can be easily understood or translated at the disaster site;

_ Consignments should display the expiry dates of the products sent. Products with limited shelf
life should not be sent if they will expire in less than one year or, in very special circumstances,
six months at the shortest.

The task of making international and national donors aware of the need for appropriate donations
requires a permanent information and education effort as part of each country’s overall disaster
preparedness strategy. The goal is to ensure that generosity goes beyond good intentions alone,
and is of actual benefit to disaster victims.

Following Up on Offers of Assistance

Many governments and international organizations have become aware of the need for more
targeted donations, and will not send any consignments until they have been notified of the needs
that must be met. However, they might still offer assistance that could be useful later on, but not
immediately. When an offer of this sort is made, an answer should be sent immediately to the
donor and a system must be in place to record such offers and follow up on them when they are
finally needed.

This approach also allows some time for evaluation and consultation when the offer includes
unusual supplies whose usefulness is not immediately apparent. In such cases, specialized
28
national organizations should One of the most awkward diplomatic tasks is to refuse an offer of
aid outright. Sometimes, after consultations have been made, local decision makers may
determine that the supplies offered would be useless, draining energy and resources away from
the distribution of more effective assistance. Recipient countries should feel free to reject, with
all due courtesy, such offers and to provide guidance to potential donors about the types of
assistance that would be more appropriate in the circumstances.

In practice, every donation has a cost for the recipient since financial and human resources are
required for storing the supplies, transporting them, and all too frequently discarding those that
are in poor condition or are otherwise unusable.

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 Chapter 4:
Emergency Supplies
What Are Emergency Supplies?
Humanitarian or emergency supplies are those goods, materials, and equipment used by
organizations to provide relief in a disaster, particularly those required to meet the essential
needs of the affected population. Such supplies cover an enormous spectrum, from food, drugs,
and clothing to rescue equipment, electric generators, construction materials, and tools. As noted
earlier, these supplies come from many different places. Some are procured or channeled by
organizations in response to specific needs on the ground; most, however, are the result of the
spontaneous solidarity of the national and international community.

From the point of view of their origin, then, supplies can be of two kinds:

1. Those requested or acquired by organizations based on their intervention profiles—medical,

economic, reconstructive—and on the needs of the affected population. Regardless of their
relevance, they are generally managed by institutions that have asked for them, are aware of the
contents of the shipments, and can assign a specific recipient for the aid.

2. Those supplies that are the result of the praiseworthy solidarity of the rest of the country or the
world, but which do not necessarily meet the needs faced on the ground. They frequently do not
have a specified recipient, and their management is the responsibility of national emergency
authorities, who may have to start out by identifying the goods, their characteristics and
condition; the authorities must also assign a use—if any—for the supplies, select the recipients,
and coordinate delivery.

Categories
Based on the experience of many humanitarian organizations around the world and the thousands
of emergencies they have faced, it is generally possible to determine in advance which supplies
are most likely to be needed. The World Health Organization (WHO), in consultation with other
international organizations, has adopted a standard classification that places humanitarian
supplies in 10 different categories. This form of identification is particularly useful for the
sorting and recording of supplies.

The categories are the following:

1. Medicines;

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2. Water and environmental health;

3. Health supplies/Kits;

4. Food;

5. Shelter/Electrical/Construction;

6. Logistics/Administration;

7. Personal needs/Education;

8. Human resources;

9. Agriculture/Livestock;

10. Unclassified.

The "unclassified" category is used for those supplies that may have expired, cannot be identified
due to lack of labeling or any other reason, are useless in the circumstances, have spoiled, or
were packed too haphazardly (different types of supplies in the same bags or boxes) for them to
be effectively classified during the critical stage of the emergency.

Every category is subdivided into subcategories, and the subcategories into items, as in the
following example:

Category -----------------Water and environmental health

Subcategory-------------- Water treatment

Item------------------------ Calcium hypochlorite

Human Resources
Obviously, the people who take part in relief activities should not be considered, nor classified
as, supplies, but their participation in humanitarian operations entails a series of needs and
services, from their transport and mobilization to their feeding, lodging and health care, which
must be taken into account in logistics planning. The teams on the ground should be as self-
sufficient as possible, so as not to place an added burden on the already diminished resources of
the affected country or region.

The Standardization of Emergency Supplies

The United Nations Development Program’s Inter-Agency Procurement Services Office
(UNDP/IAPSO) has published a series of practical handbooks or catalogs on the availability,

31
technical aspects, and use of standardized equipment and materials that can be used for disaster
response by humanitarian organizations.

The Compendium of Generic Specifications contains information on emergency items for

humanitarian relief such as the following:

_ Telecommunications equipment;

_ Shelter, housing, storage and kitchen equipment;

_ Water supply and distribution equipment;

_ Food;

_ Hygiene and sanitation goods and equipment;

_ Equipment for the handling of different materials;

_ Electrical power supply equipment.

The Compendium of Basic Specifications deals specifically with:

_ Medical supplies and equipment;

_ A select set of essential drugs;

_ Guidelines for donations of medicines.

The purpose of these catalogs is to facilitate the procurement of appropriate equipment and
materials by organizations and donors from qualified suppliers in a timely fashion.

Hazardous Materials
Hazardous materials are those that, though useful, have a chemical composition that might be
dangerous to people and their surroundings.

Fuels, chlorinated products, cooking gas, oxygen, or laboratory reagents, which are used in
everyday circumstances and are also needed during an emergency, require careful handling to
prevent fires, explosions, poisoning, pollution, and injuries.

Hazardous materials fall into nine categories, based on their predominant risk (radioactive,
explosive, corrosive, flammable, poisonous, etc.) and, within these categories, according to other
characteristics of the substances themselves and their chemical reactions.

International regulations set standards for labeling these products according to their
characteristics and potential effects, the way they must be transported, and the precautions that
must be taken when they are handled or stored.

32
Those who participate in emergency supply transport and storage must have access to these
guidelines, which also describe the composition of the products, their mutual incompatibilities,
and procedures to follow in the event of an accident. Knowledge of these standards ensures the
proper handling of hazardous materials.

Specialized Materials
Frequently, a need arises for equipment or materials so specialized that no one can expect their
arrival as part of the general donations. Instead, disaster response agencies must acquire them on
their own or rely on international organizations that might have them available or can offer
guidance on where and how to procure them.

Organizations such as OXFAM, Medicines sans Frontières, the World Health Organization
(WHO), or the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance of the U.S. Agency for International
Development (OFDA/USAID), for instance, have assembled kits for water treatment, storage
and distribution, or the building of shelters. Other kits focus on cholera prevention and treatment,
lighting and power generation, pharmaceuticals, or essential medical equipment. These kits are
generally donated or lent to relief agencies. The contents and characteristics of existing kits are
described in detail in the catalogs of the respective organizations.

Specialized equipment is often very costly. It is therefore essential to be certain that a real need
exists for such supplies before asking for them. It is also important to have a clear picture of
what is required (the specifications), so that donors have the information necessary to respond
effectively.

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