Current trends have seen a rise in the frequency and severity of disasters on a global scale, with disasters in recent years having some of the most devastating impacts ever seen on the societies they affect. As a result, there are increasing pressures on the Formal Humanitarian Sector (FHS) and their resources, resulting in a growing need to examine the logistical processes essential to humanitarian operations. Existing research within the humanitarian logistics (HL) domain has highlighted a plethora of challenges relating to the efficient and effective delivery of humanitarian assistance to those affected by disasters. Through a systematic literature review, it was discovered that current research predominantly focuses on the activities of humanitarian organisations (HOs); overlooking the social and logistical capacity already present within affected communities. In order to address the gap left by HO-centric HL research, this investigation approaches the challenges of efficient and effective humanitarian assistance from a novel perspective. Drawing upon the notion of Collaborative Aid Networks (CANs), this research explores the role of communities as drivers of HL processes, and of their own relief and recovery. In a field in which empirical data is lacking, this enquiry utilises a constructivist grounded theory methodology in order to gather empirical insights from post-earthquake Nepal. Interviews and observations were conducted over a period of seven weeks, with data being continuously analysed and refined throughout this process. The findings from this research culminated in the development of a theoretical framework which illustrates the interrelationships between CAN characteristics and their outcomes on HL. This study contributes to the emerging debates concerning community participation in disaster contexts, and provides revelatory insights regarding CANs’ unique attributes and competencies, which enable them to positively impact disaster affected communities. In levying CAN support, the FHS could increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their HL operations, whilst improving collaboration and communication between the FHS and the community; in turn supporting the legitimacy and downward accountability of FHS programmes.

With the increasing effect of disasters and long term issues on human well-being and economy over the recent years, effective management of humanitarian supply chains has become more important. This thesis work focuses on three problems in humanitarian supply chains where uncertainty is inherent, namely (i) post-disaster debris clearance with uncertain debris amounts, (ii) allocation of a health/humanitarian commodity in a developing country setting with multiple demand types, and (iii) distribution of specialized nutritious foods by a large scale humanitarian organization. In each of the three parts, the problem is formally defined, and a novel optimal solution approach incorporating the inherent uncertainty in the environment and updates is proposed. In cases where optimal models cannot be solved within reasonable time, novel heuristics are developed. Through structural analysis and computational experiments based on real data, the proposed approaches are compared to those that ignore the uncertainty in the environment and/or updates of information as new data becomes available. Using computational experiments, the proposed approaches are compared to those that are applied in practice, and the aspects of the system where performance improvements are more significant are analyzed.

La chaîne logistique humanitaire (CLH) est essentielle pour assurer une réponse performante aux crises humanitaires. Les Organisations Humanitaires (OH) ont fait des efforts pendant les dernières décennies afin d'améliorer la réponse à la crise en termes d'efficience et d’efficacité. Tout de même, la performance est mise à l’épreuve dû au manque de fonds, et à l'augmentation des besoins humanitaires, le delta ne cessant pas de s’accroître. Les principaux donateurs exigent de plus en plus de transparence et de justification des dépenses. De plus, la pression de l’opinion publique et de la communauté internationale amène les OH à prendre en compte les enjeux du développement durable dans un futur proche. C'est dans ce contexte, et avec des études au terrain, qu'on a pu constater les difficultés pour intégrer le développent durable dans la prise de décision de la CLH. Le manque d'outils d'aide à la décision ainsi qu’une culture du développement durable spécifique à la CLH sont identifiés comme des freins pour améliorer la planification durable des opérations humanitaires. Le travail de recherche cherche à introduire la notion de développement durable dans la gestion des réseaux logistiques humanitaires. L'approche retenue est le développement d'un système d'aide à la décision basé sur la performance pour planifier les opérations de la CLH. Dans ce sens, trois directions de recherche ont été explorées : (a) Comment recueillir une connaissance exhaustive de la CLH pour la recherche terrain ainsi que pour développer des Systèmes d'Aide à la Décision adéquats ? La contribution proposée est une méthodologie pour la recherche terrain qui s’appuie sur un Meta-Modèle de la CLH. (b) Qu'est-ce que la durabilité signifie dans le contexte de CLH ? En base à une revue littéraire ainsi qu’aux recherches terrain, on a établi un cadre pour définir la performance durable d'une CLH. (c) Comment prendre des décisions durables au cours de la réponse humanitaire ? Cette contribution est basée sur un algorithme de Recherche Opérationnelle qui permet d'intégrer la performance durable dans la prise de décision avec une approche interactive. La thèse illustre les trois contributions avec des études de cas basées sur la CLH de la IFRC. / The Humanitarian supply Chain is a key element to enhance a performing response to humanitarian crisis. Because of the internal and external pressure, Humanitarian Organizations (HO) has done efforts during last decades to improve the crisis response in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. However, the performance is challenged by the increasing gap between funding and needs. The main donors ask for more transparency and accountability. Moreover, the pressure from the international community is pushing HO to integrate Sustainability challenges on a near future. Is in this context, and field research results, that the difficulties to consider sustainability on HSC decision-making. The lack of Decision Support Systems and a sustainability culture specific to the HSC have been identified as break to improve the planning of sustainable humanitarian operations. This research work seeks to introduce the sustainability notion to the management of the HSC. The approach followed is the development of a decision support system based on performance, to plan the HSC operations. Three research directions have been explored: (a) How to gather an exhaustive knowledge of a HSC, for both field research and development of DSS? The proposed contribution is a Meta-Model of the HSC, for field research porpoise and for developing adequate Decision Support Systems. (b) What sustainability means in HSC context? Based on a literature review and field research, a framework is established to define the HSC sustainable performance. (c) How to make sustainable decisions during humanitarian response? This contribution is based on an Operational Research Algorithm, which permits to integrate the sustainable performance on decision making with an interactive approach. The thesis illustrates the three contributions with use cases based on the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).