Improving Visibility in Humanitarian Supply Chains

Humanitarian supply chains must function in the most challenging environments and, consequently, supply chain visibility – information and data, for instance regarding products in transit and availability and stock levels at storage and distribution points – can often be poor. Increasing supply chain visibility has the potential to greatly improve humanitarian operations by providing data to inform more effective and accurate decisions, enabling evidence-based interventions and management, exposing issues for effective remedy and increasing accountability. This article identifies a core set of visibility needs for humanitarian supply chains, discusses technology and pilot projects aimed at providing increased visibility and compares and analyses current approaches.