Working Groups

Global Logistics Cluster Working Groups form a strategic group of senior logistics professionals from partner organizations and stakeholders, including the private sector and academia.

The Working Groups are thematic, and are governed by the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG). Each Working Group is composed of a Working Group lead from the Global Logistics Cluster Support Team, a SAG focal point, and a number of global partner representatives who work together to drive the Logistics Cluster Strategy 2022-2026 and the Strategy Implementation Plan 2022 (SIP) forward in each thematic area. The objective and activities of the Working Groups are driven by these guidance documents but are regularly reviewed by Working Group members to ensure that the Global Logistics Cluster moves forward according to its strategic priority areas. Working groups are created for a limited period of time and are linked to the SIP timeline. Membership to the Working Groups is done on a voluntary basis but demands active engagement.

Working Groups can share updates during the Logistics Cluster Global Meetings which are held twice a year. The Global Logistics Cluster provides a platform for Working Groups to share information, however the Global Logistics Cluster does not formally endorse the activities of individual Working Groups unless this is done during a dedicated vote at the Global Meeting.

The Logistics Cluster Working Groups are aligned to the pillars of the Logistics Cluster Strategy 2022-2026 and are broken down as follows:

1. Partnerships
2. Preparedness
3. Procurement
4. Service Provision
5. Training

Partnerships form a central pillar of the GLC strategy and Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) mandated role to advocate for, establish, maintain, and strengthen partnerships to enable an enhanced humanitarian response.  As part of the GLC’s 2022 – 2026 Strategy, the Partnership Pillar hopes to achieve the objective of establishing and maintaining a broad partnership base to better represent and serve the entire humanitarian community. 

The three main expected objectives of the Partnership Working Group are the following:

• The Logistics Cluster network of partners and other stakeholders is further developed and solidified and inclusivity of existing mechanisms, especially at the local level, is enhanced.
• Common opportunities and threats in humanitarian logistics are collectively addressed, including through advocacy on behalf of partners when possible and relevant.
• Active collaboration and ownership of activities by the Logistics Cluster community is encouraged and facilitated.

The Preparedness Working Group promotes collaboration in preparedness among humanitarian actors. The Working Group has both a normative and an operational role directed towards the following objectives, activities, and outcomes:

• Develop the GLC Preparedness Strategy to serve as guidance on preparedness activities at global, regional, and national level
• Develop a schedule and budget for strategy and activity implementation
• Identify and define preparedness activities and partners best placed to implement activities
• Oversee and support the implementation of the GLC Preparedness Strategy and related activities

Procurement as a topic of discussion has long been discussed at Global Logistics Meetings. The topic of procurement in humanitarian logistics gained in relevance at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The Procurement Working Group was set up to address procurement needs of international NGOs, the absence of an international forum for organizations to discuss procurement issues in the humanitarian sphere, the operational bottlenecks and gaps in the procurement sector, and the duplication of coordination mechanisms set up to address joint procurement of scarce items. The Procurement Working Group addresses the following activities of the Strategic Implementation Plan:

• Advocate for enhanced environmentally sustainability procurement processes (ESPP) including advocacy for change of org/donor regulations to facilitate this.
• Define the Logistics Cluster’s scope of work related to procurement
• Agree and pilot projects to prove added value in procurement for the Logistics Cluster

Service provision is at the core of Logistics Cluster’s activities globally and inclusion of partners in the planning and implementation of service provision is key to its success. The Service Provision Working Group addresses discussion points related to scope of services, definition of terms of legal agreements, definitions of minimum service standards, and clarification of ways of interaction with WFP, with donors and with partner agencies. As per the Logistics Cluster Strategy 2022-2026, the Service Provision Working Group addresses the following thematic areas:

• Review, agree on and maintain a portfolio of standard services for common service provision.
• Develop/endorse standard agreement proposals for potential common service providers
• Develop/endorse minimum standards for common service provision
• On a regular basis, identify and address needs for the update/development of existing tools

The Logistics Cluster is mandated to support humanitarian stakeholders (including Logistics Cluster staff in the field), as well as National Emergency Management Authority officials, in the development and enhancement of the necessary skills to conduct their roles efficiently, sustainably, and effectively. To fulfil this mandate, the Logistics Cluster Training Working Group addresses the following three pillars:

• By training together, organisations learn how to respond together before an emergency strikes.
• A common logistics vocabulary and understanding is developed, increasing interoperability and efficiency during an emergency.
• A common training program, open to the humanitarian community, prevents the duplication of training programs and capacity building initiatives, which falls within the Logistics Cluster’s mandate to coordinate responding humanitarian organisations.