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A destructive earthquake is anticipated to occur in Istanbul in the near future. The effects of this earthquake on human, infrastructure and economy are anticipated to be enormous. The Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul has initiated a disaster plan to mitigate the effects of the disaster. Locating disaster response facilities to execute post-disaster activities and relief operations is a part of this plan. In this study, we address the disaster response and relief facility location problem for Istanbul. Our aim is to study the situation and provide insights on the effects of the number of facilities and their locations. We propose a two-stage distribution system that utilizes existing public facilities as well as the new facilities to be established. We develop a mathematical model that tries to minimize the average distance to the population who need relief services while opening a small number of facilities. We analyze the trade-offs between these two objectives under various circumstances and present the results.

The overarching focus of this research is to examine the role and effectiveness of formal network organizations in mitigating barriers to disaster relief. I address this larger focus by examining the impacts of one formal network organization, the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD) on its twelve NGO members. Specifically, the study addressees the following questions: 1) How does PQMD function? 2) What effects has PQMD had on its NGO members' relationships with each other, especially in the context of disaster response efforts? The research design for this study uses a qualitative framework. The study includes a literature review, content analysis of PQMD's website, research from a previous study with the same organization, and new interviews with representatives from nine NGO members, as well as the executive director of PQMD. My findings indicate that PQMD has been able to successfully bring together 27 different organizations (private and nonprofit), and mitigate the barrier of lack of central authority and lack of trust, to discuss their concerns, learn from one another, learn about one other, and create relationships that lead to better communication and collaboration in humanitarian relief. Although PQMD is working on a much smaller scale, I argue that researchers can look at this formal network organization to better understand how to improve the coordination of humanitarian aid on a worldwide scale and can glean lessons from this group. / Master of Public and International Affairs

Au cours des dernières années, le nombre de catastrophes naturelles a subi une augmentation effrayante partout dans le monde. Même si le nombre de décès déclarés a diminué sur les dernières années, le nombre de personnes affectées ne cesse pas d'augmenter, ayant un grand impact dans la façon dont les opérations d'aide humanitaire sont développées. L'aide humanitaire comprend une myriade d'acteurs parmi lesquels on trouve les donateurs, les agences d'aide, les organisations non-gouvernementales (ONG), les gouvernements et les prestataires de service logistique. Dans ce contexte, la logistique représente 80% des activités, et est impliquée dans les trois phases du cycle de la gestion des catastrophes. Dans l'industrie, logistique est considéré comme une source d'avantage concurrentiel, expliquant les différences de performance entre les entreprises. Pour le contexte humanitaire, la logistique a la capacité d'assurer le succès des opérations, de contribuer à la stratégie d'une organisation et permet aux bénéficiaires et aux donateurs de distinguer une ONG d'une autre. Cela est possible grâce au développement des compétences et capacités logistiques organisationnelles. L'objectif de cette thèse est donc d'identifier ces compétences et capacités logistiques organisationnelles qui peuvent assurer le succès des opérations humanitaires. À travers d'une étude de cas unique effectuée au sein de MSF Logistique, la centrale d'achat et d'approvisionnement de Médecins Sans Frontières, cette thèse fournit la preuve du rôle stratégique que la logistique joue dans les activités de l'organisation et propose un modèle de compétences et capacités logistiques pour le contexte humanitaire. / Over the past years, the number of natural disasters reported has suffered a frightening increase all around the world. Even though the number of people reported killed has decreased on the last years, the number of people reported affected has augmented having a great impact in the relief operations undertaken. Humanitarian relief comprises a myriad of actors which include donors, aid agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), governments and logistics providers. In this context, logistics accounts for 80% of the relief effort and is involved in all three of the disaster management phases. In industry, logistics is considered to be a source of competitive advantage, explaining the differences in performance among firms. Moving this to the humanitarian context, logistics has the capacity to ensure the success of the operations, to contribute to an organization's strategy, and allows beneficiaries and donors to distinguish an organization from another. This is only possible through the development of organizational logistics competences. The purpose of this thesis is thus to identify those organizational logistics competences and capabilities that can ensure the success of humanitarian relief operations. Through a single-embedded case study performed with MSF Logistique, the international logistics platform for Médecins Sans Frontières France, this thesis provides evidence of the strategic role that logistics plays in the organization's activities, and proposes a Logistics Capability and Competence Framework for Humanitarian Relief.

Globally, billions of people live in temporary shelters due to poverty, and every year millions of refugees and disaster affected individuals are forced to live in temporary shelters such as Standardised Emergency Relief Tents (SERTs). The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has spent millions of US dollars annually on tents, blankets and mattresses. The tents used are designed as temporary accommodation; in reality they sometimes become homes for a number of years when the return to permanent shelter is slow or unaffordable. While the SERT aims to adhere to humanitarian standards for basic shelter provision, this type of construction is ultimately designed to be quick to deploy, using lightweight and cost effective materials. Consequently, SERTs have been known to provide an extremely thermally uncomfortable place to live in different climates, requiring stove heating in cold climates and being impractical to keep cool in hot climates. Little research has been done to determine whether this situation could be improved. The thermal comfort performance of a real SERT in a known UK climate was investigated, to explore the science behind the experience of real users. Measurements were made in the SERT over a 6 month period and the observations quantitatively analysed in order to characterise and explain the tent s response to a range of outdoor conditions. The predicted thermal comfort in the SERT was calculated using a variety of suitable metrics. The data collected in a UK climate was used to develop and validate computational models of the SERT, which have applications in any world climate. Based on quantitative analysis of the SERT models performances in cold, temperate and hot climates, conclusions were drawn regarding the suitability of the SERT for use in each climate. The computational models of the SERT were modified in geometry and material, with the aim of improving the predicted thermal comfort in the SERT in hot and cold climates. The effectiveness of these design changes was analysed, and recommendations for improvements to the SERT were made. These recommendations could be used by SERT manufacturers and key humanitarian organisations in order to facilitate design modifications.

The United States, during both the Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan administrations, pursued humanitarian relief in the Horn of Africa and East Africa with an eye towards Cold War politics. During the Carter administration the focus was on Ethiopia and the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam, while during the Reagan administration the United States’ efforts were mainly targeted towards Sudan and the regime of Gaffar Nimeiry. In both instances, the United States was concerned with the politics of the Cold War, trying to create a more positive image of the U.S. abroad by relieving world hunger, while also propping up governments that supported U.S. interests during the Cold War against the Soviet Union.

At its core, this dissertation examines the role of information, particularly as it relates to proxies for quality, and how it affects both donor and organization decision processes in the humanitarian space. In Chapter 2 I consider the context of competition within the sub-sector of international humanitarian relief organizations. It has been observed that large scale humanitarian relief events tend to spawn highly competitive environments in which organizations compete with one another for publicity and funding, often times to the detriment of effective resource utilization. The question of why altruistic organizations behave in this manner arises. Positing that competition is a result of dual organization objectives and the inability to credibly signal quality a model of signaling is presented to explain this phenomenon, and conditions under which pooling and separating equilibrium can occur are shown. Results are shown to match closely with observed behavior, and potential policy remedies are considered using the model as a foundation. Chapter 3 addresses a similar question but broadens the analysis to that of a general market for charitable goods. Building on foundational results in search theory, I propose a two-stage model of donor search behavior to explain the effects of transparency and exposure on both donor and organization behavior as it regards how donors select organizations. Using both analytical and simulated results I show how donor behavior changes under various market constructions, with implications on total market outcomes and organization behavior discussed. Chapter 4 concludes with an empirical analysis to test the assumptions and results from the models of Chapters 2 and 3. Using an observational data set provided by the online charitable giving marketplace GlobalGiving, fixed effects panel regression and logit models are used to investigate the effects of transparency on both the amount of a donor's gift, and on the likelihood of repeat giving. Results are complicated by discussed validity issues, and in general show that within the context of GlobalGiving proxied transparency does not appear to have a significant practical effect on either the amount of the gift or organization selection by a given donor. While some significance is shown for various constructions, the results are not shown to be robust. A discussion of the results within the context of the donor search model of Chapter 3 is also provided.

The number of people around the world who are affected by humanitarian crises has almost doubled in the past decade. For instance, in 2016, Southern Africa experienced the worst drought in 35 years, due to the weather phenomenon El Niño, and all aspects of society were affected. The aim of this thesis is to identify and analyse different types of challenges humanitarian relief programmes face in their disaster management in two different contexts: a conflict and a non-conflict context. The thesis combines both disaster management and peace and conflict studies. Interviews have been conducted in Zimbabwe (non-conflict) and Mozambique (conflict) with INGOs, UN organisations and donors that were involved in the humanitarian relief programmes in the countries during the El Niño induced drought in 2016. The programmes experienced various challenges, and additional challenges have been found in the humanitarian relief programmes in Mozambique due to the conflict. This thesis contributes to the existing theory with one piece of the puzzle: combining the theories on disaster management and peace and conflict studies and showing that neighbouring countries to those in conflict are likely to get spillover challenges from the country in conflict, primarily due to issues with refugees.

A study of the viabliness of a UAV for humanitarian relief missions has been done. With an aeronautical model fulfilling humanitarian logistics has then the manufacture and operational life-cycle costs as well as the present air jurisdiction. In contrast to this has also an evaluation of the empty weight conceptual estimation equation been reviewed and what conditions fairly describes the sizing of a UAV. The study finds there’s a technical possibility, economic plausibility but a need for legal development. The coefficients which are sufficient to estimate the empty weight ratio are the Home built aircrafts and powered sailplane. The study concludes what present off-the-shelf systems that might be suitable to sustain humanitarian relief missions. / Syftet med den här studien har varit att undersöka möjligheterna för att använda drönare till att leverera humanitär hjälp. Att ge humanitär hjälp innebär att man assisterar stater i att leverera nödvändiga varor och tjänster till områden där den nationella staten behöver assistans för att upprätthålla nödvändiga livsvillkor för befolkningen. Det kan vara att leverera mat och mediciner men även enklare skolmateriel eller liknande. Oftast är orsaken bakom en humanitär insats att det skett någon typ av katastrof, det kan vara både natur och mänskligt skapade katastrofer. Ett exempel på en sådan nylig kris har varit inbördeskriget som rasat i Syrien under större delen av 2010-talet. Ett problem som har dykt upp är att det är svårt att få fram rätt hjälp dit den behövs, speciellt om de civila som har behovet befinner sig i en krigszon. I ett sådant fall är det mycket riskabelt att transportera och leverera humanitär hjälp till de som behöver det. De riskerar att bli skjutna, kidnappade och kapade. Detta skapar både personliga och materiella skador. Frågan blir då om man skulle kunna leverera den hjälpen med drönare, för att minska risken för personskador men också minska effekten för hela hjälpinsatsen om en eller flera av drönare skulle förvinna. Det som komplicerar hela i logistiken är att man måste ta hänsyn till hur personer byter besittning av godsen och hur man verifierar att varje person får just rätt hjälp. Speciellt då värdet av godset i en kris kan bli asymptotiskt högt. För att testa huruvida det är möjligt att använda UAV:er för humanitär hjälp skapades en simuleringsmodell av en drönare. Eftersom det förväntades att ett uppdrag är ungefär 300 km + 300km tur-o-retur övergavs någon typ av helikopterdesign tidigt. Modellen simulerade många uppdrag som bedömdes vara relevanta för en UAV som skulle leverera humanitär hjälp. Utifrån dessa uppdrag bedömdes några av de operativa kostnader som var knutna till uppdragen. Det gäller främst tillverkningskostnader, bränslekostnader samt avgifter som behöver betalas av den som använder luftrummet. Det finns en bok som är flygplanskonstruktörens bibel (Aircraft Design). Den är skriven av Daniel P. Raymer. Han föreslår där en formel för hur man konceptuellt kan bestämma vikten av ett nytt flygplan. De befintliga planen jämfördes sedan med formeln för att undersöka om dessa också stämde på drönare. Eftersom drönare inte har piloter ombord innebär det att vissa apparater inte behöver finnas på det flygplanet, vilket kan tänkas ändra hur mycket en UAV estimeras väga jämfört med ett vanligt plan. Studien kommer fram till att det som Raymer har föreslagit verkar för det mesta vara rättvisande även när man designar UAV:er. Avslutningsvis identifieras tre olika drönare som med mer eller mindre modifiering skulle kunna användas för humanitära insatser. Dock är, som nämnt tidigare, de flesta UAV:er utvecklade för olika typer av informationssamling. Då flera av dessa apparater inte är lika nödvändiga i en humanitär-logistisk situation är det sannolikt att inköpspriset skulle vara billigare än annars. Slutsatserna är att det nu är tekniskt möjligt att använda drönare för humanitär hjälp, ekonomiskt är det möjligt om än dyrt men juridiskt är det i dagsläget inte möjligt. Juridiken och reglementet för hur avgiftssystemet och luftrummet fungerar behöver utvecklas för att på ett hållbart och säkert sätt integrera autonoma farkoster med befintlig luftfart. Beroende på hur regleringarna av luftrummet förändras, ändras även de ekonomiska förutsättningarna för att använda drönare för att utföra logistiska uppdrag.

Submitted by Emilie Peyroche d´Arnaud de Sarazignac (emilie.peyrochedarnauddesarazignac@sciencespo.fr) on 2016-04-19T18:25:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Emilie PEYROCHE Thesis FINAL MPGI 5.pdf: 1990877 bytes, checksum: 962966d3b8871655109a7552e1354f13 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br) on 2016-04-19T18:28:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Emilie PEYROCHE Thesis FINAL MPGI 5.pdf: 1990877 bytes, checksum: 962966d3b8871655109a7552e1354f13 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-19T19:21:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Emilie PEYROCHE Thesis FINAL MPGI 5.pdf: 1990877 bytes, checksum: 962966d3b8871655109a7552e1354f13 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-23 / Centenas de milhões de pessoas são afetadas por desastres a cada ano. Para alguns países da Ásia, os desastres naturais se tornaram algo comum para os quais eles precisam estar preparados. A cadeia de fornecedores humanitária é um conceito logístico recente, que se refere a todo o processo de ajuda que acontece uma vez que ocorre um desastre, desde os doadores até os beneficiários finais. Por causa de tensões econômicas recentes, e por causa de uma maior cobertura da mídia sobre os desastres naturais mortais tal como o Typhoon Yolanda em 2013-2014; organizações humanitárias precisam mostrar transparência em suas ações e precisam provar a capacidade de resistência da cadeia de abastecimento para melhorar ainda mais os programas de doação. Resiliência tem sido estudada no contexto da cadeia de fornecedores de uma empresa comercial. No entanto olhar para essa noção dentro do sector humanitário que tem características diferentes, é um novo conceito raramente explorado antes. O objetivo desta tese será contribuir com novos insights e contributos, a fim de enriquecer ainda mais pesquisas sobre a capacidade de resiliência das cadeias de fornecedores humanitários. Vamos analisar as provas desses recursos para a resiliência através de uma pesquisa qualitativa sobre o caso Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), que já foi o tufão mais mortal das Filipinas.