In 2019, the Logistics Cluster was activated in Venezuela through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee in response to the unprecedented situation the country was facing. Initially led by OCHA, the World Food Programme started to take its leadership in mid-2021 when the organisation initiated its operations in the country.
During the first two years after its activation, the Logistics Cluster focused on coordination by conducting a Gaps and Needs Analysis to identify logistics gaps and bottlenecks in partners' operational activities. The analysis was shared in May 2022 with the humanitarian community, raising awareness on logistics challenges and potential solutions to address them. As a result, the Cluster identified a need for coordination in emergency preparedness in the country.
To strengthen national supply chains and empower local actors, the Cluster organised a three-day preparedness workshop last June in Valencia. During the workshop, government and humanitarian agencies worked together to develop an action plan to improve supply chain capacities during emergency responses.
In line with a series of workshops conducted in Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala, 44 participants got together in Venezuela to address humanitarian logistics topics such as warehouse management, stock prepositioning and customs clearance.
“Seeing all these actors we had interacted with on a bilateral basis coming together with this problem-solving attitude was very strong. We were able to secure meaningful commitments between humanitarian actors and government authorities to really resolve problems and not only enumerate them,” explains Isabelle Ekoue the Logistics Cluster Coordinator for Venezuela.
This event marks the start of a new phase for logistics coordination activities. The Joint Action Plan that was developed during the event will serve as a basis for the new Logistics Cluster Strategy in Venezuela.
Learn more about Logistics Cluster activities in Venezuela through the dedicated webpage.