notes: TF: If someone can figure out how this system connects in with the UN's "logistics cluster" or "shelter cluster" system, that would be great to know. I found this on Wikipedia. And it looks from their website, that every big relief system in the world is helping them start this logistics system. Yet, in the biggest disaster I'm working on (Haiti Earthquake), there's no mention of this... Please help. -> TF: If have knowledge of the SUMA LSS system and can help me figure out how it connects in with the UN's "logistics cluster" or "shelter cluster" system, that would be great to know. My email is at the top of the page under "contact". I found this SUMA LSS site on Wikipedia. And it looks from their website, that every big relief system in the world is helping them start this logistics system. Yet, in the biggest disaster I'm working on (Haiti Earthquake), there's no mention of this... Further, there's nothing on their website that's more current than Feb 2010. Please help. If you are looking for current logistics info for Haiti Earthquake recovery, I recommend you include the UN Logistics Cluster in your search: http://www.logcluster.org/ops/hti10a Also, look at the "Quickstart" button at the top of this page on the right. There will be a link to a list of orgs doing things in Haiti.

region: -> PanAmerican
mission: from the website: The Humanitarian Supply Management System (SUMA) was developed as a joint effort of Latin American and Caribbean countries, with the technical cooperation of the Pan American Health Organization, and the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization. A significant financial contribution has been also provided by the government of the Netherlands for 8 years and by others: England, United States, Canada, Germany and the European Community Office for Humanitarian Affairs, ECHO. Its principal objective is to improve the management of humanitarian assistance by strengthening national capacities for the effective management of relief supplies, so that these supplies arrive in a timely and effective manner to aid the affected population. LSS seeks to help with the administration of the supplies that arrive at the entry point, as well as the supplies that are in the warehouses. The system has the capacity to register donations, deliveries, requests, and pipelines, as well as to exchange information between different sites using the LSS system. Additionally, the system can consolidate stock and pipeline from commodity tracking system of the agencies and NGOs by using simple Excel files. In the aftermath of a disaster, one of the main problems confronting national authorities is accurately identifying which relief supplies have arrived, where they have been stored, and how useful they are. Often, well-meaning but misinformed donors send items that are not particularly useful, given the nature of the emergency as well as conditions on the ground. Strictly speaking, this is a technical problem, but it has serious repercussions for policy implementation when taking into account the following factors: All too frequently, the storage space, transportation, and human resources dedicated to relief supply management are scarce, and thus must be allocated as efficiently as possible. Technical information about arriving supplies is often lacking, making it harder to distribute them. Because of these problems, the donors and the media receive a negative impression of relief management efforts, through no fault of the disaster managers themselves. -> from the website: The Humanitarian Supply Management System (SUMA) was developed as a joint effort of Latin American and Caribbean countries, with the technical cooperation of the Pan American Health Organization, and the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization. A significant financial contribution has been also provided by the government of the Netherlands for 8 years and by others: England, United States, Canada, Germany and the European Community Office for Humanitarian Affairs, ECHO. Its principal objective is to improve the management of humanitarian assistance by strengthening national capacities for the effective management of relief supplies, so that these supplies arrive in a timely and effective manner to aid the affected population. LSS seeks to help with the administration of the supplies that arrive at the entry point, as well as the supplies that are in the warehouses. The system has the capacity to register donations, deliveries, requests, and pipelines, as well as to exchange information between different sites using the LSS system. Additionally, the system can consolidate stock and pipeline from commodity tracking system of the agencies and NGOs by using simple Excel files. In the aftermath of a disaster, one of the main problems confronting national authorities is accurately identifying which relief supplies have arrived, where they have been stored, and how useful they are. Often, well-meaning but misinformed donors send items that are not particularly useful, given the nature of the emergency as well as conditions on the ground. Strictly speaking, this is a technical problem, but it has serious repercussions for policy implementation when taking into account the following factors: All too frequently, the storage space, transportation, and human resources dedicated to relief supply management are scarce, and thus must be allocated as efficiently as possible. Technical information about arriving supplies is often lacking, making it harder to distribute them. Because of these problems, the donors and the media receive a negative impression of relief management efforts, through no fault of the disaster managers themselves. LSS improves transparency in the management of humanitarian supplies. Setting up the LSS system in emergency situations will enable reports to be prepared that can be shared with donors, authorities in a disaster - stricken country, humanitarian agencies and the media. LSS is not a tracking system. LSS provides national authorities, UN agencies and other coordinating bodies with an overall picture of what has been pledged and what has arrived for a specific emergency. Many large humanitarian agencies already have proprietary commodity tracking systems. LSS complements these agency-specific systems. It can compile and report on data that is directly entered in its own databases as well as on information that is collected from other tracking systems. A number of countries, NGOs and six UN agencies (WHO, WFP, OCHA, UNICEF, UNHCR, and PAHO) have contributed their experience and expertise to develop the Logistics Support Systems. Financial support was provided by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance of the United States of America (USAID/OFDA), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the European Union Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dutch Government.

notes: -> TF: If someone can figure out how this system connects in with the UN's "logistics cluster" or "shelter cluster" system, that would be great to know. I found this on Wikipedia. And it looks from their website, that every big relief system in the world is helping them start this logistics system. Yet, in the biggest disaster I'm working on (Haiti Earthquake), there's no mention of this... Please help.

organization: -> Supply Management / Logistics
website: -> http://www.lssweb.net/about-lss/76-lss-intro.html