Newton RCUK - TUBITAK Innovating the Turkish supply chain for services in humanitarian aid

For decades the humanitarian sector has mainly relied on providing material assistance to beneficiaries during disaster relief. These days there is a growing importance in the provision of services, not only by means of replacing the distribution of relief items by cash & vouchers that can be exchanged for goods as needed but also in the provision of supporting services such as health or education. These services can help stimulate local market activity and restart livelihoods.

In this project we aim to design and implement the supply chain for two key services to beneficiaries: cash & voucher distribution (as a replacement for distributing core relief items) and the provision of educational services. The project has been split up into three phases. In the first phase we aim to analyse the current refugee situation in Turkey, conduct interviews with agencies in the field on the current refugee situation in Turkey and on disasters in Turkey in the past (we have contacts with local agencies for this purpose - amongst others UNHCR and Turkish Red Crescent, both of which were unfortunately not able to provide a letter of support in time for this proposal). We furthermore perform desk research to collect information on the specifics of the refugee situation in Turkey and on past disasters.

In phase two we focus on the development and application operations research models to identify where and how to locate these services in order to provide optimal support to beneficiaries. In the design of cash and voucher supply chains we develop guidelines and tools on how to set up cash and voucher distribution points dependent on in-kind distributions while reducing travel times, waiting times, yet guaranteeing sufficient security. We furthermore develop guidelines and tools on supporting timely scale-up of cash and voucher distribution. In the part focused on integrated models for refugee camp location and mobile public services we develop a decision making methodology and supporting guidelines and tools for the camp site selection problem while considering the level of public services around the potential areas. With the help of this methodology, the selected camp sites will be in places where the city can accommodate public services when the need arises.

In phase III we aim to integrate the findings of both sub-projects and test the models on the Turkey case. We develop a framework how to monitor, measure and assess the impact of our findings on stakeholders, including ao. beneficiaries, local suppliers, donors, banks and other system providers, logistics services providers, government.

For decades the humanitarian sector has mainly relied on providing material assistance to beneficiaries during disaster relief. These days there is a growing importance in the provision of services, not only by means of replacing the distribution of relief items by cash and vouchers that can be exchanged for goods as needed but also in the provision of supporting services such as health or education. These services can help stimulate local market activity and restart livelihoods.
In this project we aim to design and implement the supply chain for two key services to refugees: cash and voucher distribution (as a replacement for distributing core relief items) and the provision of educational services. By doing so we mainly aim to improve access to these services in the wake of a disaster or complex emergency for refugees. Education and health are pivotal to the well being of refugees, as well as the development of livelihoods. We furthermore aim increase efficiency and effectiveness of cash and voucher distribution systems, enabling the building of livelihoods and thus stimulating the development of local economies. Cash and voucher distribution systems also provide more flexibility to refugees and other beneficiaries in terms of spending and may also support particular development targets (such as vouchers for education of children and adolescents).

Humanitarian organizations are supported by means of decision support tools. These tools help in strategic level decisions regarding mobile services, which involve the assessment of the demand for these services, followed by the identification of the optimum number and capacities of service stations. Tactical level decisions set the general guidelines for mobile services such as the frequency of visits to each location, clustering of demand locations to be served by a common facility, and weekly schedules. Finally, operational decisions take daily parameters regarding actual demand for services, availability of services and related resources, weather and road conditions in order to finalize daily schedules, with possible changes/updates to weekly schedules. Our tools also help humanitarian organizations in identifying cash distribution points while minimizing refugee travel times and maximizing security. The tools will also assist in scale-up of cash and voucher distribution and support monitoring of cash and voucher distribution as well as impact assessment.

Local and national government
The Syrian Refugee crisis is a very important issue for the Turkish government. We aim to improve governmental decision-making speed and quality in the area of distribution of services regarding this refugee crisis. We aim to support the development of livelihoods through better access for refugees to cash and voucher distribution. We aim to improve access to educational services by taking into account availability of existing educational facilities in camp location models.

Local economy
We aim to support the local economy by identifying, measuring and monitoring the impact of services on the local economy. This is expected to lead to a (local) increase in jobs, including jobs at local vendors who see an increase in business coming from cash and voucher distribution as well as at local schools being able to employ additional teachers.