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In the aftermath of the tsunami that swept the Indian Ocean in 2004, humanitarian action faced serious criticism regarding its effectiveness, efficiency and even its relevance. Humanitarian logistics -considered as one of the driving forces of international aid - did not escape this criticism. On the contrary, demands were immediately issued for it to become better-coordinated and more professional in order to improve the response to future emergencies. A number of players have since shown an interest in this area which, until then, had remained mostly neglected, in an effort to try and guide the transformation process of humanitarian logistics.
Ten years on, and despite a proliferation of transformation initiatives along the lines mentioned above, it is sadly difficult to report a positive outcome from these endeavours. Humanitarian logistics has in fact been taken in a direction that seems to be increasingly removed from the real needs of emergency operations. More recent catastrophes in countries with a meager response capacity, such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, have highlighted on-going problems with reactivity and have once again brought into question the operational relevance of humanitarian organizations. Similar observations apply to epidemic situations, food crises or conflict settings that have raged during this period. Taking current examples, the shortage of independent humanitarian activities being carried out today in Syria or during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa - despite the magnetude of these two crises - raises some worrying questions. There is no doubt that the difficulties that international organizations encounter in providing logistical solutions in this type of environment hold part of the answer to these questions.
Ten years on, and despite a proliferation of transformation initiatives along the lines mentioned above, it is sadly difficult to report a positive outcome from these endeavours. Humanitarian logistics has in fact been taken in a direction that seems to be increasingly removed from the real needs of emergency operations. More recent catastrophes in countries with a meager response capacity, such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, have highlighted on-going problems with reactivity and have once again brought into question the operational relevance of humanitarian organizations. Similar observations apply to epidemic situations, food crises or conflict settings that have raged during this period. Taking current examples, the shortage of independent humanitarian activities being carried out today in Syria or during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa - despite the magnetude of these two crises - raises some worrying questions. There is no doubt that the difficulties that international organizations encounter in providing logistical solutions in this type of environment hold part of the answer to these questions.