HEALTHSHELTER AND SETTLEMENTFOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITIONWATER SUPPLY, SANITATION AND HYGIENE PROMOTIONCORE HUMANITARIAN STANDARDPROTECTION PRINCIPLESTHE HUMANITARIAN CHARTERWHAT IS SPHERE

This handbook was prepared by the INSPIRE Consortium as one of several outputs from the project “Development of Best Practice and Universal Standards for Humanitarian Supply Chain and Logistics”. This activity is funded and supported by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO).

DG ECHO selected Groupe Urgence-Réhabilitation-Développement (Groupe URD), the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), the Instituto de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Acción Humanitaria (IECAH) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) to support DG ECHO in developing and implementing policies through research, workshop facilitation and the dissemination of results. The four leading European institutions in the humanitarian sector are part of the INSPIRE Consortium for this purpose.  

CONTENTS

Introduction

Procurement

Transport

Warehouse & storage

Distribution

Asset Management

Fleet Management

Acknowledgements

This edition of the ULS is the result of the dedication of the Technical Advisory Group and the project team throughout the drafting, reviewing and editing process.

Technical Advisory Group: David Ashley (Flexport), Samantha Brangeon (Groupe URD), Ashley Canchola (Flexport), Florent Chane, Otávio Costa,  Valerie Craigie (Craigie Communications),   Rebecca Darts (Oxfam Novib), Enrico Donati (MAG International), Claire Durham (Global Movement ICRC/IFRC), Ehijie Enato (University of Benin), Christian Grønnerød (Danish Refugee Council), Jon Harris (Cilt International), Kim Hassall, Will Holden (Emergency Logistics Team), Mary Jelliti (GOAL), Yamini Meduri (VJIM), Maud Monget, Jonathan David Muñoz (Techo), Guillaume Noailly (Bioforce), Christophe Peyrichou (Bioport), Wojciech Piotrowicz (HUMLOG Institute), Charlie Reeves (Crown Agents), Mie Shen Reyes, Marin Tomas (International Medical Corps), Cedric Vandermeulen (DG ECHO), Rose Van Steijn (Fleet Forum), Álvaro Villanueva, Sanne Wijnhorst, Chuck Woolgar (Save The Children)

Core Team: Camille Nussbaum (Coordinator, IECAH), George Fenton (Thematic Expert), Daniel García Ibáñez (Thematic Expert), Victoria Silva Sánchez (Communication Officer, IECAH) and Carla Fibla (Communication Officer, IECAH)

Steering Committee: Véronique de Geoffroy (Groupe URD), Francisco Rey Marcos (IECAH) and Barnaby Willitts-King (Overseas Development Institute)

Copy-editing: Cordelia Lilly

We also gratefully acknowledge the contributions made as a result of the regional consultations (190 participants) and all comments received via the online platform.

Notes about the final version (v1.01)

The ULS are based on an extensive review of existing guidance and standards. A first draft of the ULS was published in May 2020 and reviewed by experts and practitioners in regional consultations. In addition, comments were made via the online platform and then incorporated. As a result, the document was edited several times (V1.5 and V2) before the publication of the pilot version (V3.0) and a later updated version (draft V3.5) in early 2021.

The final version launched in April 2021 includes many improvements over previous versions. Among them, we can point to the information added to explain the format and use of the standards, a review of the cross-cutting themes, the addition of gender and diversity as a specific cross-cutting theme, a review of the elements linked with PARCEL standards, clearer references to the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and a review of all indicators. The ULS handbook is a live document. Comments on the ULS are welcome at any time, and can be sent, along with enquiries, to info@ul-standards.org. All comments received will be addressed in the revision of the ULS, which will be undertaken no later than December 2023. For more information about the Universal Logistics Standards in Humanitarian Response, as well as related resources and other documents under development, please visit www.ul-standards.org.