01/21/2025
How to Organise Humanitarian Logistics in Conflict Zones
Humanitarian logistics in conflict zones means orchestrating operations based on location, situation and emergencies to reach people in crisis when they need it most.
"It's all about reaching people in crisis, right when they need it."
During conflict, people are often displaced and struggle to access essentials like food, basic hygiene supplies, equipment and tools for recovery. Organising humanitarian aid for them in the conflict zone is unlike a standard logistics operation. There are no specific trade routes, fixed schedules, or reliable infrastructure.
Logistics providers play a vital role by offering expertise, deploying resources, identifying and assessing safe routes, and collaborating with all stakeholders to ensure a successful aid delivery to the people who need it most. The focus remains on cost-effectively maximising humanitarian impact.
As a logistics provider, depending upon the location, situation and emergencies, you need to adapt to execute the operation. These operations take place in an unpredictable and high-risk environment, requiring constant innovation to navigate its complexities.
Types of Aid People Need in Conflict Zones
The critical assistance people in crisis require:
- Food Supplies: Ready-to-eat meals, dry rations, nutritional supplements.
- Medical Supplies: Life-saving medications, vaccines, emergency kits, and specialised equipment.
- Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH): Clean water, hygiene kits, and mosquito nets to prevent outbreaks.
- Shelter and Non-Food Items: Temporary shelters, blankets, cooking utensils, and agricultural tools.
The primary goal is to alleviate the suffering of people by ensuring timely and safe deliveries of aid and relief.
What Key Challenges Impact Humanitarian Logistics?
Organising the delivery of humanitarian aid is an intricate task, it requires careful planning, flexibility and swift adaptability to the situations. Some of the key challenges which impact the operations include:
- Suboptimal Infrastructure: Damaged roads, ports, airports and less equipped warehousing facilities at the location often limit accessibility, requiring logistics providers to plan transportation solely based on the limited infrastructure.
- Restricted Areas: Roadblocks, checkpoints, or complete area closures necessitate indirect routing or escorted movements with security personnel.
Due to an unprecedented scenario, GEODIS adopted an out-of-the-box approach and engineered an alternative route to transport cargo from the Middle East to Central Africa via Europe.
- Geopolitical Disruptions: Political conflicts may prevent humanitarian shipments from taking the standard routes, leading to delays in the delivery of the aid and increased transportation costs.
- Seasonal Capacity Constraints: During peak seasons, especially the holiday season, restricted capacity on passenger aircraft creates bottlenecks for humanitarian aid shipments.
- Extreme Climate Conditions: Growing natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, or heatwaves complicate transportation and risk damaging critical aid supplies.
- Transparency and Visibility: The lack of effective tracking and monitoring of cargo movement directly impacts the timely delivery of aid, ultimately affecting the beneficiaries who rely on it.
- Compliance and Regulatory Issues: Inadequate documentation or non-compliance with the standard local and international laws can result in delays, penalties, and reputational damage.
Strategies to Overcome Challenges and Organise Aid Deliveries
An experienced logistics provider partners with the non-profit organisation to navigate the complexities of conflict zones. With a global network, dedicated and skilled teams, and tech-enabled processes, the logistics provider ensures a faster response and timely delivery of humanitarian supplies to people in crisis.
1. Planning and Route Optimisation
Logistics providers like GEODIS have a specialised team that delivers end-to-end solutions for humanitarian aid & relief shipments. Based on the requirements and emergencies, the expert teams identify safe routes and modes of transportation and procure pricing, space and equipment from the carrier. Their solution includes:
- Offering expertise related to documentation, certificate or permit requirements.
- Escorting transportation with guards in high-risk zone
- Arranging air charter for specialised or emergency aid deliveries.
- Temperature control movement of medicines.
GEODIS’ local experts in Africa successfully delivered over 5,000x40’ containers of mosquito nets. A dedicated on-site team ensured smooth customs examination and on-time aid delivery to local recipients.
2. Managing Seasonal Capacity Constraints
Peak season, especially the holiday season, limits the capacity for humanitarian cargo. An experienced logistics provider effectively manages the situation by:
- Educating the relief and aid organisations on how to forecast and plan ahead.
- Pre-booking space and collaborating with stakeholders for priority handling.
- Arranging charters based on the urgency to ensure uninterrupted movement.
3. Navigating Climate Adversities
Logistics providers adapt the routes based on the local weather forecast to manage the climate-related adversities. Additionally, they focus on:
- Deploying weatherproof mediums and specialised handling to protect the supplies.
- Partnering with the local team to manage the complexities on the ground.
GEODIS organised the smooth delivery of over 500 x 40 HC mosquito nets to remote African villages by considering the road conditions during the rainy season.
4. Compliance Management
Compliance is highly sensitive and remains a top priority for a logistics provider. The organisation’s expertise lies in:
- Ensuring documentation, certifications, permits, tax exemptions, and customs requirements are completed.
- Dedicated and on-site team to expedite the process.
GEODIS follows the 'Green Light Procedure' to avoid delays and additional costs. As per the procedure, all necessary approvals are secured before departure, ensuring full compliance and on-time delivery.
5. End-to-End Visibility
End-to-end visibility is provided through GPS and RFID tracking systems which provide real-time shipment updates and ensure:
- Streamlined monitoring and reporting.
- Timely communication with stakeholders about potential delays.
GEODIS dedicated control tower team, with superior knowledge of aid and relief cargo, offerS real-time visibility and updates at each milestone.
To effectively manage the humanitarian supply chain in the conflict zone, logistics providers combine the proven methodology, collaborate with local experts and resources, as well as closely coordinate with the multiple stakeholders and authorities to overcome complexities.
For them, aid & relief programmes are a priority. Their work starts with receiving tender, offering pricing that maximises investment in aid procurement, qualifying the right partners or carrier, and securing equipment and space to ensure timely movement. At the centre of every operation is the need of the people in crisis. Their tailored and innovative approach ensures that humanitarian aid reaches those in need—quickly, safely, and effectively.
GEODIS, A Reliable Aid & Relief Logistics Partner
With more than 25 years of experience and proven expertise in the Aid & Relief sector with Sea, Air, Rail and Road transportation, our network is fully capable of customising the solution based on the project.
Each year, we successfully deliver an average of over 5,500 TEUs via ocean freight and over 1,000 tons via air freight. Our expertise extends to managing temperature-controlled shipments ranging from 2-25 degrees.
GEODIS works as an extended team by educating customers with valuable insights and timely advisories of prevailing situations and enabling informed decision-making.
If you want to learn more about our humanitarian logistics solutions:
