Humanitarian Supply Management and Logistics in the Health Sector

Category Water and environmental health
Subcategory Water treatment
Item Calcium hypochlorite
Human Resources
Obviously, the people who take part in relief activities should not be considered,
nor classified as, supplies, but their participation in humanitarian
operations entails a series of needs and services, from their transport
and mobilization to their feeding, lodging and health care, which must
be taken into account in logistics planning. The teams on the ground
should be as self-sufficient as possible, so as not to place an added burden
on the already diminished resources of the affected country or
region.
The Standardization of Emergency Supplies
The United Nations Development Program’s Inter-Agency Procurement
Services Office (UNDP/IAPSO) has published a series of practical handbooks
or catalogs on the availability, technical aspects, and use of standardized
equipment and materials that can be used for disaster response
by humanitarian organizations. The Compendium of Generic Specifications,
10 contains information on emergency items for humanitarian relief
such as the following:
▲ Telecommunications equipment;
▲ Shelter, housing, storage and kitchen equipment;
▲ Water supply and distribution equipment;
▲ Food;
▲ Hygiene and sanitation goods and equipment;
▲ Equipment for the handling of different materials;
▲ Electrical power supply equipment.
Chapter 5: Key characteristics of emergency supplies 37
10 United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Emergency Relief Items. Compendium of Generic Specifications,
Volume 1, New York: UNDP, 1995.