This paper aims to provide an overview of the key problems and perspectives to-ward a sustainable supply chain of HIV/AIDS related commodities. It is based on an extensive literature study, taking into account recent major reviews, and considering a wide range of different views from eminent experts worldwideMost research has focused on trying to implement and introduce humanitarian logistics a...

This article analyzes information sharing problems in the humanitarian development sector and proposes the concept of a web-based exchange platform to face some of the technical challenges. The “Development Information Exchange System” is a mediator-wrapper-architecture that uses XML documents to loosely couple autonomous and heterogeneous information systems. Detailed project information of hu...

Geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems and remote sensing have been increasingly used in public health settings since the 1990s, but application of these methods in humanitarian emergencies has been less documented. Recent areas of application of GIS methods in humanitarian emergencies include hazard, vulnerability, and risk assessments; rapid assessment and survey met...

International humanitarian aid provides assistance such as food, shelter, and health or counseling services across national boundaries to communities in need. Universally, international humanitarian aid organizations play a critical role, by supporting the survival and recovery of communities affected by crises such as natural disasters, conflicts or disease epidemics. In most instances the tec...

In a complex humanitarian emergency, a catastrophic breakdown of political, economic, and social systems, often accompanied by violence, contributes to a long-lasting dependency of the affected communities on external service. Relief systems, such as the Emergency Response Units of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have served as a sound foundation for fieldw...

Neutralization of landmines is dangerous and complicated work. For Humanitarian Demining, the most common neutralization method is demolition using small explosive charges. Although common practice, demolition has several disadvantages. Deminers need non-explosive mine neutralization technologies that are safer, more reliable and less expensive. To meet this need, several innovative non-explosi...

A review of the literature indicates that most formulations for humanitarian logistics are extensions of methods for commercial applications that do not fully account for the particular challenges in humanitarian operations. In contrast to commercial logistics, operational costs are of secondary importance for humanitarian logistics since responders are frequently more concerned about allocatin...

Geographic information systems (GIS) are increasingly used for integrating data from different sources and substantive areas, including in humanitarian action. The challenges of integration are particularly well illustrated by humanitarian mine action. The informational requirements of mine action are expensive, with socio-economic impact surveys costing over US$1.5 million per country, and are...

An increasing number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provide humanitarian assistance, including healthcare. Some faith-based NGOs combine proselytising work with humanitarian aid. This can result in ethical dilemmas that are rarely discussed in the literature. The article explores several ethical issues, using four generic activities of faith-based NGOs: (1) It is discriminatory to den...

The notion of humanitarian government has been increasingly employed to describe the simultaneous and conflicting deployment of humanitarianism and security in the government of ‘precarious lives’ such as refugees. This article argues that humanitarian government should also be understood as the biopolitical government of host populations through the humanitarian government of refugees. In part...