Super-Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on 7 November 2013. The initial reports estimated 10 000 fatalities and four million displaced persons. As the United Kingdom's initial response to this disaster, HMS DARING was diverted from her deployment to take part in humanitarian aid, named Operation PATWIN. This article will outline the medical aspects of the relief effort undertaken and aim to...

In order to simulate the coordination of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in humanitarian relief, we propose a theoretical framework for the emergence of collaborative projects and corresponding coalitions. In this framework, NGOs are represented as autonomous and heterogeneous agents who are embedded in social networks. They interact with each other in various ways, deliberatively identif...

The best known nationalist projects have been those emerging in western-oriented, mostly Christian-led, S’ghaw dialect-speaking communities. For many observers and supporters, the militarized nation-building project of the Karen National Union is the only authentic expression of Karen nationalism in Burma. Indeed, international agencies have played important roles in legitimizing the KNU’s ver...

This paper describes VIStology’s HADRian system for semantically integrating disparate information sources into a common operational picture (COP) for humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HADR) operations. Here the system is applied to the task of determining where unexploded or additional bombs were being reported via Twitter in the hours immediately after the Boston Marathon bombing in Ap...

Organization and efficiency of relief operations are vital following a major disaster, as well as the guarantee that all of the affected population will adequately have their basic needs met. However, in a post-disaster environment, uncertainty often impacts all aspects of the relief efforts. Placement of relief distribution centers, as well as public knowledge of these locations, is crucial to...

Background Health Logistics Association (HLA) is an association of logistics professionals committed to humanitarian logistics effectiveness by creating opportunities for dialogue and cooperative relationships with its members and partners to build a community of practice for advancing the humanitarian logistics profession through the promotion of cross organisational learning and collaboration...

Humanitarian Supply Chain (HSC) performance is a key factor for disaster response. In order to be more responsive, the typical humanitarian supply strategy has evolved from a centralized to a decentralized network, generally at regional level. The objective was to reduce lead-times and costs. However, after a decade of working, organizations like the Americas and Caribbean International Federat...

In this article, we provide an overview of key international guidelines governing the supply of pharmaceuticals during disasters and complex emergencies. We review the World Health Organization's guidelines on pharmaceutical supply chain management and highlight their relevance for military humanitarian assistance missions. Given the important role of pharmaceuticals in addressing population he...