Relief logistics involves the efficient management of goods, information, and services to respond to the urgent needs of populations affected by disasters. It plays a central role in disaster relief efforts by ensuring critical supplies like food, shelter, and medical aid are delivered as quickly as possible. The document discusses the importance of relief logistics in recent major disasters. It also outlines some of the key challenges, like lack of resources and institutional learning, and provides examples of relief efforts such as those following the 2004 Asian tsunami and 2001 Gujarat earthquake in India.

1. RELIEF LOGISTICS
PRESENTED BY : - SUNIL RAUT

2. Introduction
In recent years, an increasing number of natural and man-made
disasters have hit various regions in the world, killing thousands of
people and causing millions of indirect victims.
Recent examples, such as the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 or the
earthquake/tsunami and resulting nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011,
show the vulnerability of developed countries, as well as emerging
countries, to disasters. Most of the time, such disasters require
external (international) assistance. This assistance may come from the
government (military, civil defence, etc.), but also from international
relief organizations, which have the knowledge and resources to help
the populations affected by these crises.
Following the Asian tsunami in 2004, humanitarian or relief
logistics was publicly recognized as playing a central role in
the disaster relief effort and as a consequence, a new field of
research emerged.

3. Humanitarian logistics is a critical element of a successful relief
operation as it focuses on the efficient management of flows of goods,
information and services, to respond to the urgent needs of the affected
populations under emergency conditions, such as those encountered
during and after natural or man-made disasters. In particular, effective
and efficient supply chain management enables humanitarian
organizations to make the best use of resources, by matching the
available supplies with the highest priority needs in the shortest
possible time, under the constraint of limited funding.
In emergency , humanitarian logistics managers must also realize that
time value is more important than transportation value. That is to say, it
is more important to transport aid quickly than it is to waste time using
cheaper, slower transportation. Logistics is critical to the assessment of
need and rapid mobilization of personnel, equipment, and material in
response.

4. What is Relief logistics?
Relief 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, and
customs clearance.

5. The RELIEF chain consists of following elements-
1. Suppliers or Donors
( NGOs, International aid, Donation from other States)
2. Emergency Public procurement Unit (P)
3. Strategic Distribution unit (D)
4. Beneficiaries (B)
SUPPLIERS
DONORS
P D B
PRODUCT FLOW
INFORMATION FLOW

6. Types of Disaster
 Calamities, characterized by natural causes and sudden-onset occurrences
(e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes);
 Destructive actions, characterized by man-made causes and sudden-onset
occurrences (e.g., terrorist attacks, coups d’état, industrial accidents);
 Plagues, characterized by natural causes and slow-onset occurrence (e.g.,
famines, droughts, poverty);
 Crises, characterized by man-made causes and slow-onsets occurrence
(e.g., political and refugee crises).

7. DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE
Source: http://www.scl.gatech.edu/research/humanitarian/GTHHL-Intro_to_humanitarian_logistics.pdf
Three phases in the disaster management cycle:

8. The Scope, Importance and Challenge of
Relief Logistics
Humanitarian Logistics is central to disaster relief for several reasons.
 First, it is crucial to the effectiveness and speed of response for major
humanitarian programs, such as health, food, shelter, water, and
sanitation.
 Second, with procurement and transportation included in the
function, it can be one of the most expensive parts of a relief effort.
 Third, since the logistics department handles tracking of goods
through the supply chain, it is often the repository of data that can be
analyzed to provide post-event learning.

9.  2004, Indian Ocean Tsunami, 2,30,000 – 3,10,000 victims
 2008, Nargis Cyclone in Myanmar, 1,38,000 victims
 2010, Earthquake in Haiti, 3,16,000 victims
 2011, Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, 15,000 -
20,000 victims
Why is this important?
The natural disaster happening cannot be avoided, but its
consequences can be mitigated through a holistic resilient
management of the relief supply chain operation.

10. Lack of Recognition of the Importance of Logistics
Lack of Professional Staff
Inadequate Use of Technology
Organizational culture and high employee turnover
Lack of Institutional Learning
Limited Collaboration
HUMANITARIAN LOGISTICS : CORE CHALLENGES

11. CASE STUDIES
The 2004 earthquake and resulting tsunami in South Asia
claimed approximately 230,000 lives and displaced 1.7 million
people. Over 40 countries and 700 non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) provided humanitarian assistance. The
response in the private sector was unprecedented: for
example, US companies alone mobilized more than US $565
million (cash and in kind), and the role of logistics companies
(e.g., UPS, FedEx, and DHL)—together with their existing aid
agency partners—was also crucial in providing free or
subsidized transportation and logistics. The world responded
by donating more than $13 billion and initiating the largest
relief effort in history.

12. On January 26, 2001 a 7.9 Richter earthquake struck Gujarat,
where 41 million people were preparing to celebrate Republic
Day in India. Thousands of people were killed, the local
airport was destroyed, the infrastructure severely damaged,
and very little information was available in the early stages of
the disaster. Nonetheless, within the first 30 days of the
earthquake, along with the assistance of 35 partner
organizations, the International Federation of the Red Cross's
Logistics Emergency Unit arranged the delivery of 255,000
blankets, 34,000 tents, 120,000 plastic sheets, and large
quantities of other items such as kitchen sets that were
distributed to beneficiaries by the Indian Red Cross. More
than 300 other global, national, regional and local NGOs and
UN agencies similarly mobilized their staffs and resources.

14. Key players
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR);
World Health Organization (WHO);
UN Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC);
Humanitarian Security Unit, European Commission;
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI);
Emergency Response and Disaster Mitigation, World Vision
International;
Fritz Institute, San Francisco, USA;
Humanitarian Information Unit, US Department of State;
INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France;
Industrial Engineering, University of Washington, USA;
Dipartimento di Informatica, University of Pisa, Italy;
Engineers without Borders;
Centre of Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance
(CDMHA), Florida, USA; and
National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), South Africa.

15. CONCLUSION
Every year, there are approximately 150,000 deaths and 200 million
people affected by natural disasters and humanitarian crises. Natural
disasters alone, which include events such as earthquakes, famines and
floods, result in the temporary displacement of approximately five
million people. The number of displaced people from humanitarian
crises such as civil conflict and war is even larger, with an average of 13
million refugees and 20 million internally displaced people each year. As
the relief arm of the global community, humanitarian organizations are
the front line of assistance for people affected by natural and complex
emergencies.
Humanitarian relief organizations (HROs) coordinate billions of dollars in
relief annually to victims of natural disasters, civil conflict and war. Their
chief task is the timely mobilization of financing and goods from
international donors and administering relief to vulnerable beneficiaries
at disaster sites across the globe.

16. Thank You