Title: Humanitarian Supply Chain: Improvement of lead time effectiveness and cost-efficiency. A multiple case study on the preparedness stage of humanitarian organizations with their partners. Authors: Ester Lisnati Jayadi, Hugo Richit, Najmus Sadat. Background: 315 natural disasters events were reported, causing 11,804 deaths, affecting 68 million people, and costing US$131.7 billion in economic losses worldwide. This fact emerges the importance of humanitarian organizations (HOs) to act in reducing suffering and improving peoples’ life. However, the greater donations and support to HOs still do not solve this enormous issue at all which forces HOs to pursue greater accountability by improving their effectiveness and efficiency in terms of time and cost in disaster activities, especially in preparedness activities. No single actors like HOs have sufficient resources to solve the disaster problem alone; thus, they need partners to work hand in hand to relieve the suffering. Performance measurement through integration called performance management process is the key to enabling HOs and their partners to achieve the lead time effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Purpose: The purposes of the study are to explore which performance measurements are needed between humanitarian organizations with their partners and to explore how to integrate their relationship to improve lead time effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Then, the suggestions can be made by fulfilling the purposes. Method: A multiple case study by utilizing qualitative data through semi-structured interviews. Findings and Conclusions: RQ 1. What HSC (humanitarian supply chain) performance measurements are needed in the HSC’s preparedness stage in order to achieve the lead time effectiveness and cost efficiency? The performance required measurements in HSC’s preparedness stage to achieve lead-time effectiveness, and cost-efficiency are organizational procedures, learning and evaluation, HO’s mission, feedback, budgeting, fund management, sourcing, human and resource management, IT utilization, infrastructure utilization, human resources utilization, delivery time, knowledge management, information sharing, and employee management. RQ 2. How to integrate the HSC performance management process in the HSC’s preparedness stage to improve the lead time effectiveness and cost efficiency? By implementing a proposed performance management process, aligning vision and mission, trusting each other, utilizing IT technologies, improving the language, and applying standardization in HSC. Keywords: Humanitarian Supply Chain Management. Humanitarian Supply Chain. Preparedness Stage. Natural Disasters. Humanitarian Organizations. Partners. Dyads. Multiple Case Studies. Performance Measurements. Performance Management Process. Supply Chain Process Integration

Worldwide, the need for effective humanitarian aid is growing, and continuous aid such as commodity distribution plays a major role in ensuring sustained wellbeing. In literature, information and communication technology (ICT) has been recognized and suggested to enhance the performance and achieve higher social impact of humanitarian supply chains. Nevertheless, so far there has been little research on implementation practices and difficulties that can arise in the specific context. In pursuit of seizing the full benefits of ICT in humanitarian setting, there is an interest to further study ICT adoption among humanitarian practitioners, above all those in the most decentralized parts of the chain, which are more likely to be overlooked. This thesis aims to investigate what challenges arise when implementing an ICT trackability solution in local units of humanitarian supply chains. In this context, the concept of trackability was introduced to refer to monitoring of the downstream flow of a commodity until its intended beneficiary. Based on a thorough literature review at the intersection of Humanitarian Logistics, Supply Chain Visibility and ICT Adoption research, a substantiated theoretical context was built. Further, a case study on Colombian childcare centers, which serve as local service units of a national Food Aid Program aimed at early childhood, allowed for deep-going insights on the work of educators and the dynamics of such local humanitarian entities. Analysis of the empirical findings demonstrated the presence of numerous, both facilitating and inhibiting, ICT adoption antecedents. Five main challenges were identified: high workload, lack of technological skills, staff’s impact-oriented motivation in contrast to the tool’s broader efficiency goal, trackabilitiy’s monitoring nature as a threat to staff’s aspired autonomy, and deficient infrastructure. The study shows that these challenges can be interpreted as misalignments between the nature of attributes intrinsic to the humanitarian organization and that of the technological tool itself which is often shaped by commercial principles. The identified frictions could either be associated to a difference in operational reality or to diverging strategic goals, which mirror the overall discrepancies between commercial and humanitarian supply chains described in literature. The conclusion was drawn that the elucidated divide or incompatibility asks for bridging efforts in order to overcome implementation difficulties and seize the promising advantages of ICT in humanitarian setting. According to the findings, this should be done by enabling local practitioners rather than monitoring these. / Globalt ökar behovet av effektivt humanitärt bistånd, och kontinuerligt stöd såsom råvarudistribution spelar en viktig roll för att säkerställa ett fortsatt välbefinnande. I litteraturen har informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) erkänts och föreslagits förbättra prestationen och höja den sociala påverkan hos humanitära försörjningskedjor. Å andra sidan, finns det hittills ringa forskning på praktisk implementering och utmaningar som kan uppstå i det givna sammanhanget. I strävan att ta vara på samtliga fördelar som IKT kan ha i humanitärt sammanhang finns det intresse att ytterligare studera införande och användning av IKT bland humanitära praktiker, främst i de mest decentraliserade delarna av kedjan, då dessa är mer sannolika att förbises. Examensarbetet syftar till att undersöka vilka utmaningar som uppstår vid implementering av en IKT lösning för spårbarhet i lokala enheter av humanitära försörjningskedjor. Baserat på en grundlig litteraturöversikt vid skärningspunkten för forskning kring humanitär logistik, försörjningskedjor och IKTs införande och användning skapades ett teoretiskt ramverk. Vidare har en fallstudie av colombianska daghem, som utgör de lokala serviceenheter av ett nationellt program för livsmedelsbistånd riktad till tidig barndom, bidragit till djupgående insikter i praktikernas arbete och dynamiken i sådana lokala humanitära enheter. Analysen av det empiriska materialet påvisade många, både underlättande och inhiberande, faktorer för IKT införande och användning. Fem huvudsakliga utmaningar identifierades: hög arbetsbelastning, brist på tekniska färdigheter, personalens motivation baserad i direkt social påverkan i kontrast till IKT lösningens bredare effektivitetsmål, kopplingen mellan spårbarhet och övervakning som ett hot för autonomi, samt bristande infrastruktur. Studien visar att dessa kan tolkas som motsättningar mellan attribut hos den humanitära organisationen och attribut för det tekniska verktyget som oftast är format utifrån kommersiella principer. De identifierade friktionerna kan antingen vara kopplade till en skillnad i operativ verklighet eller i divergerande strategiska mål, vilket speglar de övergripande skillnaderna mellan kommersiella och humanitära försörjningskedjor som beskrivs i litteraturen. Slutsatsen drogs att den uppenbara klyftan eller oförenligheten manar till överbryggande ansträngningar för att övervinna de implementeringssvårigheter som uppstår och för att ta vara på IKT’s lovade fördelar i humanitär miljö. Enligt resultaten bör detta göras med fokus på att stödja lokala utövare istället för att övervaka dessa.

Cette étude s’intéresse aux enjeux éthiques de l’advocacy et de la défense des droits comme composante de l’humanitaire d’urgence. Les violences sexuelles sont devenues des instruments de guerre, utilisées à des fins politiques et militaires. Les plaidoyers qui sont habituellement une fonction des organisations humanitaires des droits de l’homme intègrent les interventions humanitaires d’urgence. Le recours à l’advocacy dans le milieu humanitaire expose les missions humanitaires à des tensions et dilemmes éthiques notamment en ce qui concerne l’accès aux victimes et la défense de leurs droits, le principe d’humanité et le principe de neutralité. L’advocacy représente également un danger pour l’image apolitique des organisations humanitaires et ébranle la confiance des États belligérants aux conflits. Face à ces dangers que présente l’advocacy, la question se pose sur les raisons qui peuvent justifier une partie advocacy dans les interventions humanitaires dans le cas des violences sexuelles utilisées à des fins politiques. A partir d’une méthode décrite comme un essai interdisciplinaire et critique de théorie du droit, notre argumentation et nos preuves sont structurées afin de justifier l’hypothèse selon laquelle le silence face au non-respect de la dignité humaine et des droits des victimes est contraire aux valeurs universelles et à l’esprit d’humanité qui sont la raison d’être des actions humanitaires, que cela renforce également l’État de non-droit et l’impunité des auteurs des crimes, mais en même temps cela accentue la stigmatisation des victimes. En effet, le silence des organismes humanitaires qui sont témoins des violations des droits fondamentaux, perpétue la culture du silence qui accompagne habituellement les actes de violence sexuelle et ne permet pas de restaurer la paix ni de prévenir que cela ne revienne dans le futur. La collecte des données pour étayer cette hypothèse s’effectue à partir d’une recherche documentaire analysée de manière critique, réflexive et interdisciplinaire. Le caractère oscillatoire de l’essai, entre les différentes disciplines, a fait ressortir que sur le plan moral, le silence complice est contraire à l’esprit de l’humanitaire. L’advocacy est une interprétation du principe d’humanité qui est l’essence de l’assistance humanitaire. La prise en charge des victimes par les organisations humanitaires ne saurait se limiter, de ce fait, à la médecine humanitaire d’urgence. En même temps, l’obligation de réserve et de confidentialité est également contraire au principe de « first do not harm ». Soigner et soutenir les victimes nécessite que l’action humanitaire soit étendue aux protections de la vie humaine dans un sens holistique et aussi aux défenses des droits des victimes. Sur le plan juridique, l’analyse des paradigmes concernant l’humanitaire démontre que les mécanismes juridiques mis en place pour protéger les personnes, en temps de conflit, sont en grande partie tributaires des organisations humanitaires et de leurs rôles en tant que « gardiens » du droit international. Le plaidoyer et la défense des droits sont devenus des obligations légales implicites des organisations humanitaires pour prévenir la résurgence des violations des règles de droit dans le futur mais également dans le but de réprimer les auteurs des crimes. / This study looks at the ethical issues of advocacy and rights-based approaches to emergency humanitarian work. Sexual violence has become an instrument of war, used for political and military purposes. Advocacy, which is usually a function of humanitarian human rights organizations, is becoming part of emergency humanitarian response. The use of advocacy in humanitarian settings exposes humanitarian missions to ethical tensions and dilemmas, particularly with regard to access to victims and the defense of their rights, the principle of humanity and the principle of neutrality. Advocacy also represents a danger to the apolitical image of humanitarian organizations and therefore undermines the confidence of belligerent states in conflicts. In view of these dangers of advocacy, the question arises as to what reasons might justify advocacy in humanitarian interventions in the case of politically motivated sexual violence. From a method described as an interdisciplinary and critical essay of legal theory, our argument and evidence will be structured to justify the hypothesis that silence in the face of non-respect for human dignity and the rights of victims is contrary to the universal values and spirit of humanity that are the raison d'être of humanitarian actions, that it also reinforces the state of lawlessness and impunity of perpetrators, but at the same time it accentuates the stigmatization of victims. In fact, the silence of humanitarian organizations that witness violations of fundamental rights perpetuates the culture of silence that usually accompanies acts of sexual violence and does not help to restore peace or prevent it from happening again in the future. The collection of data to support this hypothesis is based on a documentary research that is critically analyzed, reflexive and interdisciplinary. The oscillating nature of the essay, across disciplines, made it clear that morally, complicit silence is contrary to the spirit of humanitarianism. Advocacy is an interpretation of the principle of humanity that is the essence of humanitarian assistance. The care of victims by humanitarian organizations cannot therefore be limited to emergency humanitarian medicine. At the same time, the obligation of reserve and confidentiality is also contrary to the "first do not harm" principle. Caring for and supporting victims requires that humanitarian action be extended to the protection of human life in a holistic sense and also to the defense of victims' rights. From a legal perspective, the analysis of humanitarian paradigms demonstrates that the legal mechanisms put in place to protect people in times of conflict are largely dependent on humanitarian organizations and their roles as "gatekeepers" of international law. Advocacy has become a legal obligation of humanitarian organizations as a preventive measure against future violations of the rule of law, but also as a repressive measure against perpetrators.