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- عربي
UNHCR and CHEP to improve delivery of life-saving refugee aid with supply chain study
News Stories, 17 September 2015
WEYBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM, Sept 17 (UNHCR) – Pallets and logistics are an essential part of any humanitarian emergency.
In recognition of the crucial role both play within the wider supply chain network, the UN refugee agency is working with CHEP – the world's leading provider of pallet and container pooling solutions to increase efficiency and cut costs.
CHEP, which offers a wide range of logistics and operational platforms and support services designed to increase performance and lower risk while improving environmental sustainability, is supporting an in-depth UNHCR study of its global supply chain network.
Vicente Escribano, Head of UNHCR's Supply Management Logistic Service, said: "The efficiency of our supply chain is often literally a matter of life and death to the refugees and families we serve, so any improvements we can make could have a massive impact."
"We approached CHEP as a global supply chain leader to ask if they would evaluate if and how improvements could be made to improve our logistics and associated costs. Working with CHEP is a great opportunity for UNHCR and CHEP providing its resources and expertise on a voluntary basis is a real bonus."
CHEP's 11,500-plus employees and more than 275 million pallets and containers deliver comprehensive coverage and exceptional value, supporting more than 500,000 customer touch-points for global brands such as Procter & Gamble, Sysco, Kellogg's and Nestlé.
CHEP provided its Plant Network Optimization (PNO) Team for the in-depth study, which is reviewing the current state of UNHCR resources to reduce the lead time required to service refugee camps.
Currently CHEP's PNO team is conducting a detailed analysis of UNHCR's supply chain network in Africa.
UNHCR maintains a network of seven global stockpiles managed from distribution centers strategically located in Copenhagen (Denmark), Amman (Jordan), Dubai (UAE), Nairobi (Kenya), Isaka (Tanzania), Douala (Cameroon) and Accra (Ghana). If needed, UNHCR can ship core relief items (CRIs) from these stockpiles to assist up to 600,000 people within 72 hours.
In 2014, UNHCR assisted over 15 million people in need. CHEP's Senior Vice President for Supply Chain, Carmelo Alonso Bernaola, said: "The PNO team in the US has been leading this initiative. They are highly experienced but the UNCHR project is unique compared to other projects they have conducted. The UNHCR study involves multi-country, air, sea and road transportation and multiple data sources; factors which greatly increase the scale and complexity of the study".
The study will be completed by late 2015 with findings and recommendations presented to UNHCR shortly afterwards. Brambles Limited, the parent company of CHEP, supports the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption. Brambles became a signatory to the UN Global Compact in June 2013.
