Introduction Emergencies include natural disasters such as earthquakes and severe meteorological events, but also armed confl ict and its consequences, such as civil disruption and refugee crises (sometimes termed chronic emergencies). The health component of the humanitarian response to emergencies has traditionally focused on management of acute conditions such as trauma and infectious illnes...

Donors have expressed disappointment in the performance of humanitarian organizations in responding to recent unprecedented disasters. Efforts to restore confidence have focused in part on improving transparency, accountability and capability through implementation of supply chain management information systems. This paper explores issues of trust, control and confidence in partner cooperation ...

One of the main activities of humanitarian logistics is to provide relief items for survivors in case of a disaster. To facilitate the procurement operation, this paper proposes a bidding framework for supplier selection and optimal allocation of relief items. The proposed auction process is divided into the announcement construction, bid construction and bid evaluation phases. In the announcem...

Disasters recently received the attention of the Operations Research community due to the great potential of improving disaster related operations through the use of analytical tools, and the impact on people that this implies. In this introductory article, we describe the main characteristics of disaster supply chains, and we highlight the particular issues that are faced when managing these s...

Humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly collaborating through inter-organizational structures such as coalitions, alliances, partnerships, and coordination bodies. NGO’s information technology coordination bodies are groups of NGOs aimed at improving the efficiency of ICT use in humanitarian assistance through greater coordination. Despite their popularity, little is ...

In this paper, we develop a model for supply chain network design in the case of multiple products, with particular relevance to humanitarian healthcare. The model allows for the determination of the optimal capacities of supply chain network activities in the form of manufacturing, storage, and distribution, as well as the optimal multiple product flows, and identifies at what minimal total co...

In recent years, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has attempted to go beyond its role as a provider of relief and basic services in Palestinian refugee camps and emphasize its role as a development agency. In this article, I focus on the Neirab Rehabilitation Project, an UNRWA-sponsored development project taking place in the Palestinian...