For two days, from 3-4 September 2014, 24 participants from 18 international and national NGOs, government and UN agencies participated in a Logistics Cluster training on Supply Chain Management.
The training aimed to enhance the logistics operations of the humanitarian organizations currently operating in North Waziristan. Better logistics are crucial to facilitate a coordinated crisis response.
Coming from logistics, managerial or reporting backgrounds, the participants’ expectations were to learn about the proper standard tools, methodology, calculations and best practices in national and international supply chain management.
The team of trainers from the Logistics Cluster used the office space of the WFP Provincial Office in Peshawar, Pakistan to deliver lectures and interactive sessions. Detailed briefings included an understanding of humanitarian supply chain management, including the logistics and its components (introduction to humanitarian logistics).
Over the training participants also got a good understanding of the importance of transport operations, its planning, contracting and executions. Warehouse management was another important topic which involves the warehouse selection, staffing, inspection, storage, layout, safety and documents. Understanding the topics is necessary in order to manage the movement of raw materials into the organization’s facilities as well as in a second step to providing goods to customers.
Trained participants came from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, the Ikhlas Welfare Society, the Community Research and Development Organization, Strive for Sustainable Peace and Development, the ESHAR Foundation, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Handicap International, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger (ACF), Cooperazione e Sviluppo Onlus (CESVI), the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), Oxfam GB, World Vision International, Plan International, the International Medical Corps, Muslim Aid and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) as well as the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
While the Logistics Cluster conducted the training, both its staff and participants were grateful for the support of the WFP Country Office and the Provincial Office.
