Belgium: Field Logistics in Emergencies (credit rated option)

About the course:

Logistics activities account for a very large proportion of the costs involved in a disaster relief operation. Logisticians explore ways of minimising costs while maximising the impact of aid in order to ensure effective humanitarian response. This course aims to help you develop the competencies needed to manage field logistics in a humanitarian context.

Field Logistics in Emergencies is a highly participatory course, with group exercises and theory based sessions. You will experience what it is like to be at the centre of an emergency response in a challenging simulation which will test your knowledge and understanding of what a Field Logistician does.
This RedR course has been approved by the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT) and the HELP Forum. It will be run at the Medecins Sans Frontiers training space in Brussels, allowing for additional hands-on activities and learning opportunities.

What does the course cover?

• Logistics and the emergency environment
• Logistics needs assessments
• Humanitarian supply chain management
• Warehousing, inventory control and asset management
• Transportation, distribution, and fleet management
• Power generation
• Security risk management, security strategies, and risk, threat, and vulnerability
• Communication and technology
• Staff and financial management

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Describe the role and responsibilities of a logistician in a humanitarian programme
• Identify key procedures and documentation required to establish effective and accountable logistics services and infrastructure
• Identify the key principles and components of humanitarian supply chain management and procurement
• Plan an effective process for warehousing, inventory control and distribution of commodities to beneficiaries
• Plan and manage an effective asset management process
• Define the principles of fleet and vehicle management
• Explain the basic principles, advantage and limitations of key radio and satellite communication systems and describe how these are managed in the field
• Identify key human resources issues facing a logistician in recruiting and managing a logistics team
• Describe the basic principles of financial administration, budgeting and cost control in accordance with donor regulations

Who should attend?

The course is appropriate for: potential or new field logisticians and experienced humanitarian staff interested in gaining a deeper knowledge of logistics ‘on the ground’; individuals in commercial or private sector logistics roles interested in transitioning to a humanitarian role; generalist aid workers who want to transition into a logistical role; managers or staff from other areas in humanitarian response, such as finance, technical work, or programme management, whose work brings them into contact with logistics and want to better understand it.

People who are new to the humanitarian or logistics sectors are welcome to attend the course, but some theoretical humanitarian knowledge is presumed. Practical humanitarian experience is not required for the course.

Course structure:

Registration will take place from 8.45 am on Monday. Training will run from 9 am and conclude at 5.30 pm. Each day is broken up into four sessions, separated by an hour lunch break and 20 minute coffee/ tea breaks in the morning and afternoon.

From the second day, training begins with a review of the topics covered the previous day to ensure that the concepts, tools, and frameworks are fully understood. Every day ends with a period of reflection, evaluation, and questions.

Participants will be actively encouraged to participate in classroom discussions, group work and a desk-based simulation. The trainers will draw on both theoretical and practical knowledge in order to make the experience and learning applicable to the realities of field logistics in a humanitarian disaster.

Day 1

After registration and a welcome in the morning of the first day, you will be introduced to the topic of logistics. In the remainder of the morning you will learn about logistics needs assessment and risk assessments. In the afternoon, the workshop will cover supply chain management and procurement and supply.

Day 2

Day two begins with an introduction to warehousing, followed by inventory control organisation and reporting and then asset management. After lunch, the course will cover security-risk threat and vulnerability, after which you will discuss distribution. At the end of the day, you will learn about security amidst crowds and mobs. The subject of transportation logistics will close the day.

Day 3

Day three begins with a discussion of fleet management, covering vehicles with 4 x 4 or four wheel drive capabilities. You will then learn about generators before breaking for lunch. In the afternoon, the course will cover office accommodation setup and management followed up site security. Communication and technology will be discussed in the next session, which will close with incident reporting.

Day 4

On the fourth day, you will begin by learning about staff management and recruitment. The second session will be about donor regulations and then field finance and the audit trail. The reminder of the day will be spent on a logistics planning simulation.

Day 5

The logistics planning exercise will carry on into the last day of the course, concluding with team presentations and a group debrief of the logistics planning simulation. Later, you will have a chance to make action plans for your logistics career objectives, using the knowledge you have gained on the course. The last session is reserved for wrapping up the course: recapping the key points, answering any lingering questions, completing course evaluations, and receiving your certificates of completion.

The credit-rated assessment:

Field Logistics in Emergencies is a competency based, assessed course worth 10 Masters level credits that can be transferred to the Masters in Development and Emergency Practice (DEP) from Oxford Brookes University or other similar postgraduate qualifications. For more information about this and the other credit rated courses that RedR offers click here.

Please note there is a 15% additional fee to take the course as credit-rated. Full terms and conditions of the credit-rating can be found here.

http://www.redr.org.uk/en/Training-and-more/participant-info/booking-iframe.cfm/course_url/flebrusept15