A number of recent UNHCR evaluations suggest that the organisation knows less and less about the refugees it is mandated to protect. Recent events in West Africa, where a number of humanitarian personnel were implicated in the sexual exploitation of…
Often referred to as shipping, the function had a lowly place and logisticians were located in basements and at shipping docks. Today, logistics or supply chain management is recognised as a strategic and value-producing component in the overall operation of…
Logistics, in its conventional definition, is the process of managing the flow of goods, information and finances from the source (suppliers) to the final consumer (customers). The topic has received significant attention in the 'for-profit' or commercial world since it…
Whether there is actual or potential large-scale displacement, agencies have to get the right assistance to the right place at the right time at the right cost. The challenges faced in achieving this are many and complex. i. Meeting reconstruction…
If so, take comfort from knowing that you are not the first. Unfortunately you are unlikely to be the last. At best, scenarios like this reduce support functions to a constant state of 'fire-fighting' - inefficient, frustrating and stressful for…
Logistics questions affect timescales, appropriateness of supplies, methods of implementation, asset management and many other aspects integral to programme management. The Fritz Institute's Humanitarian Logistics Council initiative [see pp…] to bring together logisticians is useful and productive. What we need…
Some might query whether it is too early to even be asking this question. It is only in very recent years, after all, that awareness and concern have been raised of the plight of IDPs, their specific needs and vulnerabilities,…
Moreover, the potential consequences of withdrawing protection prematurely or erroneously from IDPs and refugees can be equally harmful. Over the past three decades, standards and procedures have been developed through extensive dialogue between UNHCR and states parties to the 1951…
In contrast, the most widely accepted definition of an internally displaced person (found in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement) fails to mention protection and does not clearly delineate when a person ceases to be internally displaced. That definition rests…
The issue at stake is to identify when international and national responsibilities end in terms of addressing the specific needs of IDPs, as compared to the population in general. What is required is consensus on the part of IDPs, humanitarian…