Humanitarian logistics efforts go a long way towards easing suffering.

The Low-Down:

This year was marked by two major natural disasters-the Haiti earthquake and catastrophic flooding in Pakistan. In addition to the terrible loss of life, both countries’ economies and infrastructure suffered severe damage.

If there’s anything uplifting about disasters, it’s the show of humanity by individuals and organizations that is most reassuring.

One group that deserves recognition is the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), a non-profit organization that was formed by a handful of logistics executives following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. According to ALAN officials, the idea was to create a Web portal that could match up needs with resources and make the entire process visible.

When he heard about the earthquake, Aaron Tshirhart, who works in a logistics-related job for Suncor Energy in Canada, started looking for a way to help out. He found his way to ALAN and took time off from work to travel down to Haiti.

Most of his time was spent working with CHF International building temporary housing and putting his talents to use in a variety of logistics capacities. Tshirhart was in Port-au-Prince for about three and a half weeks, but the experience has been life changing.

“I really consider Jock a mentor,” he said last month, referring to ALAN’s president, Jock Menzies. Tshirhart expects he’ll be taking more time off to volunteer for ALAN the next time there’s a need.

Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum’s Logistics Emergency Teams (LETs), comprised of Agility, TNT, and UPS, provided critical warehousing, transportation, and logistics support during Pakistan’s floods this past summer. They also worked closely with the United Nations World Food Programme to get food to millions of people in August and September.

Tarek Sultan, Agility’s chairman and managing director, noted that the three LET partners shared “a strong local network and on-the-ground expertise” that helped speed up relief operations. wt



Check it out:

www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/HumanitarianReliefInitiative/LogisticsandTransportationIndustry/index.htm, and www. ALANaid.org.