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More logistics, less aid: Humanitarian-business partnerships and sustainability in the refugee camp

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  • Pascucci, Elisa

Abstract

This article identifies logistics – the science and practice of managing complex operations and moving goods – as an essential yet overlooked dimension of the alignment of global business and global aid in the UN 2030 Agenda era. Focusing on refugee aid, it draws on qualitative fieldwork with practitioners in the field of humanitarian logistics, active in the partnership environment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in five countries (Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Rwanda and Sweden). The analysis shows how aid workers see profit and non-profit partnerships for humanitarian logistics as a priority in the context of the so-called humanitarian-development nexus. In particular, logistics is considered essential to bring refugee aid in line with emerging standards of sustainability. The article puts forward a twofold argument. First, it shows how sustainability policies prioritize logistical solutions that are based on the integration of the displaced in local and transnational markets, rather than on the delivery of material goods and infrastructures. Second, in a slight departure from existing literature on humanitarian logistics, it argues that the agency of the humanitarian sector, and not just that of the corporate world, is central in the promotion of humanitarian logistics partnerships. The conclusions discuss the ethical and political implications of a humanitarianism increasingly oriented towards supply-chain rationales, in which more sustainable logistics often equates less material aid.

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  • Pascucci, Elisa, 2021. "More logistics, less aid: Humanitarian-business partnerships and sustainability in the refugee camp," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:142:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x2100036x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105424
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Howe, Paul, 2019. "The triple nexus: A potential approach to supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.
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    5. Marc Levinson, 2008. "Introduction to The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger," Introductory Chapters, in: The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, Princeton University Press.
    6. Kirsi Pauliina Kallio & Jouni Häkli & Elisa Pascucci, 2019. "Refugeeness as political subjectivity: Experiencing the humanitarian border," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(7), pages 1258-1276, November.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Smaro Boura & Orestis Vathis & Asteris Huliaras & Nikolaos Tzifakis, 2022. "Do in‐kind donations promote cooperation among non‐governmental organisations? Lessons from the Greek refugee crisis," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 130-144, January.
    3. García Castillo, Jorge, 2024. "Donors want it faster, humanitarian organizations get it cheaper," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    4. Kimberly N. Hill‐Tout & Roberta Hawkins, 2023. "Accessorizing development: Fundraising bracelets for International Development as a New Development Responsibility," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 2046-2066, October.
    5. Jaime Moreno-Serna & Teresa Sánchez-Chaparro & Leda Stott & Javier Mazorra & Ruth Carrasco-Gallego & Carlos Mataix, 2021. "Feedback Loops and Facilitation: Catalyzing Transformational Multi-Stakeholder Refugee Response Partnerships," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, October.

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