- COLLABORATION IN SCM AND ADVANCED TOPICS LECTURE 1 AND 2 -
Humanitarian logistics – sub-learning goals:
- Explain the basic processes in humanitarian operations, such as
logistics and funding, and the key challenges in these processes.
- Argue how and when preparedness activities can help improve
humanitarian operations.
- Argue how and when recent innovations (such as anticipatory action
frameworks, cash & voucher programs, or flexible funding
mechanisms) can play an important role in improving humanitarian
operations.
Big gap in funding that is needed to help people efficiency leads ability to
help more people.
Disaster = a disruption that physically affects a system as a whole and
threatens its priorities and goals.
- Disasters can be (types):
· Natural or man-made.
· Slow- or sudden-onset.
·
- Difference in sensitivity for natural and man-made.
- Slow: prevention methods, sudden: responsive methods.
Protracted crises: humanitarian assistance used to be dominated by short-
term, post disaster relief. The last decade has seen a new normal of
protracted crises (= long term crises for years).
Mandates & organizations:
- Mandate = stated set of policies and procedures agreed on and carries
out by an organization to define and pursue its purpose given the
organization’s own standards and norms.
- The mandate delineates the scope of the organization’s work:
· Activities it undertakes and contexts in which it operates.
· Standards it uses.
· Key actors that benefit from its work.
, - Two types of operations:
· Relief operations: emergency response usually to sudden-onset
disasters.
· Development programs: long term projects to increase quality of
living (e.g., strengthening capacity).
- Humanitarian organization can be classified as multi-lateral or non-
governmental (NGOs):
· Multi-lateral agencies (e.g., United Nations agencies) are
governed by representatives of governments, unlike non-
governmental organizations.
· NGOs can be:
… Large, international NGOs – INGOs.
… Small, local NGOs – LNGOs.
· It is not uncommon for multiple organizations to have to
coordinate their response – it is always about collaboration
between UN and NGOs.
·
Challenges in humanitarian logistics:
- Politicized environment.
· People are moving across countries – more complex logistics.
- Incentive misalignment.
- Ambiguous objectives.
- The human factor: people not goods: families, especially women and
kids – more vulnerability.
- Time pressure.
- Setting priorities.
- Bad environmentally/logistic conditions (distribution of goods).
· Bad accessibility to people, e.g., crowded, pushy people, broken
roads.
- Need to be extremely adaptable and prepared for the unexpected.
- Safety issues.
- High levels of uncertainty.
- High staff turnover (e.g., burnout).
- Many actors (donors, agencies, beneficiaries, media, and public
opinion).
Humanitarian logistics – sub-learning goals:
- Explain the basic processes in humanitarian operations, such as
logistics and funding, and the key challenges in these processes.
- Argue how and when preparedness activities can help improve
humanitarian operations.
- Argue how and when recent innovations (such as anticipatory action
frameworks, cash & voucher programs, or flexible funding
mechanisms) can play an important role in improving humanitarian
operations.
Big gap in funding that is needed to help people efficiency leads ability to
help more people.
Disaster = a disruption that physically affects a system as a whole and
threatens its priorities and goals.
- Disasters can be (types):
· Natural or man-made.
· Slow- or sudden-onset.
·
- Difference in sensitivity for natural and man-made.
- Slow: prevention methods, sudden: responsive methods.
Protracted crises: humanitarian assistance used to be dominated by short-
term, post disaster relief. The last decade has seen a new normal of
protracted crises (= long term crises for years).
Mandates & organizations:
- Mandate = stated set of policies and procedures agreed on and carries
out by an organization to define and pursue its purpose given the
organization’s own standards and norms.
- The mandate delineates the scope of the organization’s work:
· Activities it undertakes and contexts in which it operates.
· Standards it uses.
· Key actors that benefit from its work.
, - Two types of operations:
· Relief operations: emergency response usually to sudden-onset
disasters.
· Development programs: long term projects to increase quality of
living (e.g., strengthening capacity).
- Humanitarian organization can be classified as multi-lateral or non-
governmental (NGOs):
· Multi-lateral agencies (e.g., United Nations agencies) are
governed by representatives of governments, unlike non-
governmental organizations.
· NGOs can be:
… Large, international NGOs – INGOs.
… Small, local NGOs – LNGOs.
· It is not uncommon for multiple organizations to have to
coordinate their response – it is always about collaboration
between UN and NGOs.
·
Challenges in humanitarian logistics:
- Politicized environment.
· People are moving across countries – more complex logistics.
- Incentive misalignment.
- Ambiguous objectives.
- The human factor: people not goods: families, especially women and
kids – more vulnerability.
- Time pressure.
- Setting priorities.
- Bad environmentally/logistic conditions (distribution of goods).
· Bad accessibility to people, e.g., crowded, pushy people, broken
roads.
- Need to be extremely adaptable and prepared for the unexpected.
- Safety issues.
- High levels of uncertainty.
- High staff turnover (e.g., burnout).
- Many actors (donors, agencies, beneficiaries, media, and public
opinion).
