ULS. Universal Logistics Standards

Universal Logistics Standards

ULS draw together best practice in humanitarian supply chain and logistics.

They are intended to be used by organisations, staff and volunteers

as guidance to improve the quality of disaster preparedness and response.

The pilot version of ULS handbook is now available online,

and is going to be tested in the field in 2021.

This project is led by the Inspire Consortium

with the support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO)

LATEST UPDATES

PURPOSE

Although numerous technical logistics standards and guidance tools exist in the aid sector, most are organization-centered and few are universally endorsed.

Furthermore, for smaller/local organizations and non-logistics staff, often implementing logistics at a small scale, it is a challenge to translate high-level principles into applicable and measurable good practice.

APPROACH

Open standards

The development of Standards has followed the methodology of “open standards”.

As such they are developed, approved and maintained via a collaborative and consensus driven process, building on the experience and knowledge collected from key actors across the humanitarian logistics sector.

Foundations

The project is intended to augment previous initiatives, such as the PARCEL project, that aimed to improve the performance of logistics interventions, and help to better align this function to the localization agenda and commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit under the Grand Bargain. Standards will be aligned with existing humanitarian quality and accountability standards such as the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Protection Principles.

Scope

The inception phase confirmed interest in the development of updated guidance and recommendations within the main aspects of Supply Chain and Logistics (Procurement, Warehousing, Transport, Distribution, etc.). Other specific area considered were the humanitarian identity (principles and protection) and new trends (environment, cash-based interventions and gender). Moreover, the ULS incorporates the lessons being learned on humanitarian logistics from the COVID-19 crisis.

TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP (TAG)

ULS are developed, approved and maintained via a collaborative and consensus driven process with professionals and organisations covering a wide range of logistics fields and cross-cutting topics.The TAG is composed of individuals with skills and experience relevant to the development and use of standards and organizational structures and architecture, who are volunteering their time to contribute to the development of humanitarian supply chain and logistics. It has a central role in the development of the standards.

Experts

GET INVOLVED: CONSULTATIONS AND PILOTING

Based on a thorough review of existing standards, guidelines and best practices, the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), made up of more than twenty experts from different parts of the world, defined the format and scope of the Standards.

The first draft of the ULS was launched in May 2020 and reviewed in a consultation process involving 190 participants from five regions along a total of 17 sessions in 3 languages. This process allowed to incorporate more and more best practices. It also helped to confirm and strengthen key features of the Standards.

The project team is already working on the pilot phase of ULS to verify, at field level, the usefulness and benefits of Standards. Five NGOs across the world have provided a valuable feedback to help improve this pilot version. Technical tutorials explaining each chapter are available at our Youtube channel

LATEST UPDATES

JULY 2021 - The PDF version of the ULS is already available

APRIL 2021 - Launching the final version of ULS Handbook

OCTOBER 2020 - Towards gender and diversity inclusion in humanitarian logistics

AUGUST 2020 - Launch of global consultations and open platform

Tweets by ULStandards

THE INSPIRE CONSORTIUM

The DG ECHO has selected Groupe Urgence-Réhabilitation-Développement (Groupe URD), Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), the Instituto de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Acción humanitaria (IECAH) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), through an open call for tender, to support DG ECHO in developing and implementing policies through research, workshop facilitation and the dissemination of results.

STEERING COMMITTEE

The Steering Committee oversees the process. It is composed of representatives of IECAH, ODI and Groupe URD. Throughout the project, the Comittee provides oversight to ensure the project delivers on its objectives, remains within its scope, or where appropriate, approve scope changes; act as a vocal of the initiative through its representative organisations;and approve the pilot version of the Standards at the end of the consultation process.

Inception report

The purpose of this report is to describe the project approach and methodology in detail, and to describe the consultant team activities in the initial phase of the project.

Download Executive Summary