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When a major disaster
strikes a country, local and international communities
respond with an outpouring of assistance. Disaster
managers must be prepared to receive large quantities
of unsolicited donations that may not meet the needs
of the affected population. The process of sorting
through tons of supplies and ensuring that urgently
needed items reach the disaster victims can overwhelm
relief workers.
SUMA, the Supply
Management System from the PAHO/WHO, is an information
management tool that helps national authorities
to make order of the chaos often caused by uncoordinated
humanitarian assistance. SUMA uses simple software
to track items from the moment donors commit to
sending supplies until they are distributed effectively
to the affected population
SUMA
has taken the first steps
for it's standardization
globally. It has received
the support from various
United Nations agencies
and, coordinated by WHO,
an inter-agency initiative
will be launched on an international
level to strengthen the
operational capacity of
humanitarian organizations,
governmental and nongovernmental
institutions. This will
allow a more fluid information
sharing, a joint logistical
planning, and therefore
a more efficient management
of humanitarian assistance,
which improves the final
response to those in need.
See
Flow of SUMA
Dr.
Edgardo Acosta Nassar.
Executive
Director
FUNDESUMA
Transparent
and efficient management
SUMA,
apart of being a technical and operational tool, has evolved into
an indicator and tool to improve transparency and accountability
during the response phase in times of a disaster. Transparency and
accountability are widely recognized as essential features of sound
and efficient management
Comments and questions: suma@paho.org / info@fundesuma.net
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