For over 25 years organized groups of low-income families in Oregon have been gathering food that would otherwise go to waste and distributing this food among organization members. The purpose of this research study is to explore the potential for these organizations (gleaning groups) to contribute not only to food distribution, but also to the reduction of poverty through the development of human capital (acquiring knowledge and skills) and social capital (building relationships of trust and support) among participants in these organizations. Data was collected through participant observation at a regional food distribution agency and seven gleaning group sites, as well as interviews with 13 key informants working with gleaning organizations, and 19 volunteer members of gleaning organizations. The results of this study indicate that gleaning groups are contributing to the development of human and social capital by providing individuals with opportunities such as working closely with other gleaners, carrying out the administrative tasks of a non-profit organization and distributing food to shut-in or disabled "adoptee" members of these groups. In addition, this study shows that there are significant hindrances to human and social capital development within gleaning organizations including lack of control over the amount of food groups receive through the national food-banking network, deficiencies in volunteer participation and an emphasis on efficiency in carrying out group tasks. The author suggests incorporating social and human capital development into the stated purposes of gleaning organizations in an effort to stated purposes of gleaning organizations in an effort to intentionally remove barriers to, as well as encourage further investments in these forms of capital. / Graduation date: 2004

<p>This research paper focuses on the legal protection of humanitarian workers. It refers to the experience of governmental organizations with a humanitarian vocation, and international humanitarian organizations, such as, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), active in more than 80 countries. The ICRC was created in order provide assistance and protection to wounded combatants,11 but its activity has gradually extended to include prisoners of war and civilians, territories. Also Medecin Sans Frontiere (MSF), functioning in more than 70 countries, was established to provide medical assistance to victims of conflicts or natural and other disasters.</p>

This dissertation examines the development of poor relief and child welfare policy in Jamaica during the interwar years. It establishes the paradigms for accessing relief and how this influenced broader discussions of poverty, class and citizenship in society. As such it shows how these concerns about poverty, in the public sphere, influenced state policy as it related to tackling juvenile delinquency and destitution in society. Currently, the historiography of the 1930s emphasizes the role of labor unrest as a propelling force to political change in the Caribbean. My thesis, while accepting this premise, uses the poor relief administration to elaborate upon the response of colonial administrators to pauperism in Jamaica. Financial difficulties restricted the amount of assistance provided to the aged and infirm, single mothers, orphans and juvenile delinquents. Inevitability, access to assistance became tinged with tensions of race, class and gender in the island. I conclude, therefore, that colonial administrators used the poor relief administration to intervene in the dialectic of poverty, class, citizenship and gender especially in the rehabilitation of destitute, displaced and delinquent children.

Background: Nowadays, humanitarian relief organizations are more and more present in people’s lives due to the number of recorded natural disasters increasing over the last 30 years. Although there are several actors involved in humanitarian aid, the need to integrate logistics service providers into humanitarian relief operations has been recognized. Howev- er, the literature lacks particular attention concerning the coordination roles and objectives between humanitarian relief organizations and LSPs during disaster relief operations. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between UNICEF and its LSP(s) during disaster relief operations. More specifically, this study aims to understand the elements that drive, facilitate, constrain and affect the relationship UNICEF has with its LSPs. Method: A qualitative, exploratory research approach was used, using a real-context case study as the research design. The empirical data was collected through in-depth semi- structured interviews with four respondents representing both UNICEF and its LSPs. Conclusion: The researchers present a revised version of the conceptual framework used to conduct this research. One additional component was added to the list of compo- nents affecting the effectiveness of a relationship. In addition, some other influencers were discussed. This conceptual framework can be used to formulate an effective relationship between two humanitarian actors within disaster relief operations. Finally, forming a rela- tionship between UNICEF and its LSPs is nothing new. Recommendations for future re- search include investigating implementation efforts once a relationship is built, in order to improve disaster relief operations and save more lives.

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The application of innovative methods to diminish the amount of human creation called “waste” should be applied not only under commercial terms, but also under the humanitarian concept. Negative results of focusing only on the fastest relief of human suffer without attending the consequences of the flow of items left on the disaster zones, could bring in the medium term, critical environmental consequences, due to the creation of new waste. This research analyzes relevant approaches of the Humanitarian Relief of Aid under a Humanitarian Logistics point of view. It aims to find if those approaches have already a Reverse Logistic phase of the items provided by donors. The results demonstrate the absence of a Reverse Logistics Phase for items brought to disaster zones. Thus, some proposals were suggested for a new Reverse Logistic Phase in any humanitarian relief of aid. NGOs, donors participation, coordination among players on the scene, managing inventories, last mile distribution, performance measurement, relief of aid models,  and reverse logistics concepts applied to the humanitarian field would be only some of the themes revised on this research. These aim to enrich the readers’ knowledge on the topic as well as to provide an open panorama of the humanitarian actions employed in each Natural Disaster. The reader would acquire sufficient understanding to determine how feasible and reachable are the alternatives proposed by the authors. The relevance of this theme reveals a critical and not yet researched niche in Reverse Logistics under Humanitarian Logistics. It encourages more readers to research on it, explore and apply in future natural disasters. This research used a qualitative approach employing a semi-structured interview made to small and large humanitarian organizations.

Schummerungen sind heutzutage die anschaulichste und am weitesten verbreite Methode zur Darstellung des Reliefs in der Kartenebene. Analytische Verfahren zur Herstellung einer Schummerung finden sich meist im Kontext von Geoinformationssystemen, von denen eine große Vielzahl auf dem Markt erhältlich ist - darunter auch zunehmend Open-Source-Programme. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist es das Ziel der Arbeit sowohl den Funktionsumfang als auch die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Reliefdarstellung ausgewählter kommerzieller und freier Produkte zu untersuchen und zu vergleichen. Speziell wurden die Möglichkeiten zur Erstellung einer Reliefschummerung, farbiger Höhenschichten und Maskierung flacher Gebiete untersucht. Dafür wurden verschiedene Vergleichskriterien eingeführt nach denen zwei Beispielregionen, sowohl auf Meso- als auch auf Mikroebene, bearbeitet und bewertet wurden. Die Untersuchungen haben gezeigt, dass kommerzielle Produkte generell die anspruchsvolleren Schummerungen generieren und Open-Source Produkte keine Alternative für qualitativ hochwertige, kartographische Anliegen darstellen. Allerdings müssen die Einstellungen in den meisten Fällen manuell sowohl an das Programm als auch an den Kartenausschnitt angepasst werden. Die Ergebnisse und Schlussfolgerungen sind anschaulich in Tabellen mit abschließendem Fazit am Ende der Arbeit zusammengefasst.

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.

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