PAHO SUMA Supply Management System

Publication date: 2001

Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination Program Pan American Health Organization Regional Office of the World Health Organization Washington, D.C. 2001 THE WHO/PAHO SUPPLY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Also published in Spanish as: SUMA: El Sistema de la OMS/OPS para la Gestión de Suministros. Cataloging by the PAHO Library: Pan American Health Organization SUMA: The WHO/PAHO Supply Management System Washington, D.C.: PAHO, © 2001. -6pp. ISBN 92 75 12344 6 I. Title 1. DISASTERS 2. DISASTERS EMERGENCIES 3. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES 4. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES 5. RELIEF WORK 6. DISASTER PLANNING LC HV551.P187s 2001 © Pan American Health Organization, 2001 A publication of the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination Program, PAHO/WHO. The views expressed, the recommendations formulated, and the designations employed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the current policies or opinions of the Pan American Health Organization or of its Member States. The Pan American Health Organization welcomes requests for permission to reproduce or translate, in part or in full, this publication. Applications and inquiries should be addressed to the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination Program, Pan American Health Organization, 525 Twenty- third Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037, U.S.A.; fax (202) 775-4578; e-mail: disaster-publications@paho.org. The SUMA System acknowledges the support of the Government of the Netherlands, the International Humanitarian Assistance Division of the Canadian International Development Agency (IHA/CIDA), the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance of the U.S. Agency for International Development (OFDA/USAID), and the Department for International Development of the U.K. (DFID). This publication has been made possible thanks to a grant from the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO). I N T R O D U C T I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 WHAT DOES SUMA DO? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 TRAINING ACTIVITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 AN NGO FOR SUPPLY MANAGEMENT: FUNDESUMA. . . . . . . . 4 SUMA IN CYBERSPACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 SUMA IN ACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 THE FUTURE OF SUMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S FROM AN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT TOOL TO A SYMBOL OF TRANSPARENCY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 The massive influx of donations that pours into a disaster-stricken country often over- whelms national authorities, causing logistical and management problems. Whether local or foreign in origin, much of the aid that arrives is neither requested nor appropriate for current needs. SUMA is a computerized supply manage- ment system that attempts to make order of the chaos often caused by uncoordinated humani- tarian relief. The system initially targeted health- related supplies in the aftermath of a disaster. At the urging of most Latin American countries, the scope of SUMA was broadened to include all relief items. SUMA has more than 2,500 trained volun- teers around the world, an integrated logistics course (MISE), and is included in the curricu- lum of several universities. SUMA formally started operations in 1992 with the financial support of the Government of the Netherlands. The Humanitarian Supply Management System I N T R O D U C T I O N INTRODUCTION WHAT DOES SUMA DO? • Identifies, sorts and clas- sifies incoming humani- tarian aid • Prioritizes supplies based on the needs of the affected population • Provides a “snapshot” of the flow of donations and the gaps that still exist • Enables the preparation of reports and informa- tion sharing among humanitarian organiza- tions 2 S U M A FROM AN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT TOOL TO A SYMBOL OF TRANSPARENCY Nearly 10 years after it was first used, SUMA has proven its value as a technical information management and coordination tool in small and large-scale disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean. Recently, SUMA has been used out of national con- cern for transparency in dealing with humanitarian supplies. No longer simply an operational tool, SUMA has evolved into an indicator of and tool to enhance transparency and accountability in the aftermath of disasters. H U M A N I T A R I A N S U P P L Y M A N A G E M E N T S Y S T E M In 1999, the Governing Bodies of PAHO endorsed the sys- tematic use of SUMA in all disasters. (Resolution CE124.R2). In 2000, the ministries of foreign affairs and national disas- ter organizations of Central America and the Caribbean formal- ized their commitment to SUMA by incorporating SUMA methodologies into disaster coordination manuals and embassy guidelines. 3 Humanitarian Supply Management System T R A I N I N G A C T I V I T I E S TRAINING ACTIVITIES Since SUMA was first used in the early 1990s, more than 2,500 people have been formally trained in the use of the software and the logistics involved in managing humanitarian supplies. National SUMA teams are made up of trained operators from the ranks of health agencies, civil defense or emergency committees, armed forces, ministries of foreign affairs, customs departments, the Red Cross, NGOs, and other organizations. The SUMA training program has two main components: • Use of SUMA Software • Integrated Management of Emergency Supplies (MISE) The MISE course just extends the knowledge of SUMA teams beyond familiarity with the SUMA software. It provides training in basic logistical planning procedures including acquisition, transporta- tion, storage and distribution of emergency supplies and evaluation of the process. 4 S U M A SUMA IN CYBERSPACE SUMA training materials are available free of charge, via the Internet. The SUMA e-mail discussion list disseminates information to interested disaster professionals around the world. Subscription to this list is available on the website. WWW.DISASTER.INFO.DESASTRES.NET/SUMA For the latest information on the SUMA system, includ- ing software updates, manuals and teaching materials, please visit: http://www.disaster.info.desastres.net/SUMA AN NGO FOR SUPPLY MANAGEMENT: F U N D E S U M A FUNDESUMA, a non-profit, non-governmental organization, was created in 1996, under Costa Rican law, to support, promote, and develop the SUMA methodology. Working on a contractual basis with PAHO and other agencies, FUNDESUMA: • provides technical and operational support • provides training in Latin America, the Caribbean, and globally • maintains and upgrades SUMA software This new approach of relying on an NGO exclusively dedi- cated to the integrated management of emergency supplies cuts response time and improves the ability to adapt SUMA to differ- ent scenarios. S U M A I N A C T I O N 5 Humanitarian Supply Management System S U M A I N A C T I O N SUMA IN ACTION SUMA has been activated in nat- ural disasters such as volcanic eruptions (Ecuador, 2000), floods (Venezuela, 1999), earthquakes (El Salvador, 2001), as well as com- plex disasters (East Timor (1999). Hurricanes Mitch and Georges in 1998 were a turning point for SUMA. These disasters mobilized 30 regional volunteers, increased solidarity among countries, and were key to transform- ing SUMA from a technical management to a political account- ability tool. In addition to offering SUMA courses in countries outside the Americas including Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, India, Japan, Rwanda, and the United Kingdom, SUMA experts were sent to several complex disaster situations around the world. A good example of such an operation was in East Timor. Although initially intended for use in disaster situa- tions, SUMA is increasingly being used for activities unre- lated to humanitarian assistance, such as warehouse management and inventory tracking. This daily use of SUMA, with the consequent improvements to the System, helps make it a more powerful and effective tool for use in both disasters and complex emergencies, and thus con- tributes to its sustainability. 6 S U M A F U T U R E O F S U M A THE FUTURE OF SUMA In October 2000, a meeting of selected users and designers was held in Costa Rica. Representatives of international orga- nizations such as UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Health Organization, International Committee of the Red Cross, and Médecins sans Frontières, together with sea- soned users of the SUMA System, reached consensus on sever- al main points: 1) SUMA's relevance in natural as well as complex disasters 2) SUMA's potential for non-disaster uses as an entry- level inventory management system in health facili- ties and other organizations that cannot afford sophisticated commercial systems 3) The need to incorporate new technologies and to improve the software compatibility with various platforms and other systems 4) The need for collective, interagency ownership of SUMA and for its implementation as part of a coor- dination mechanism at the global level

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