USAID/OFDA Logistics and Relief Commodities Sector Update October 2011

As the lead U.S. Government office for international disaster response, USAID/OFDA stockpiles relief supplies at regional warehouses in Miami, Florida; Pisa, Italy; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The stockpiled commodities include blankets, plastic sheeting for emergency shelter construction, family hygiene kits, kitchen sets, mosquito nets, zodiac boats, 10-liter collapsible water containers, 10,000-liter water storage bladders, and trailer-mounted water treatment units. In addition to stockpiled commodities, USAID/OFDA maintains a full-time logistics team that helps facilitate a rapid response in the aftermath of disaster. During a large-scale response, USAID/OFDA can supplement the team with USAID/OFDA-trained logisticians, including staff from the U.S. Forest Service's Disaster Assistance Support Program and Urban Search-and-Rescue teams from the Fairfax County, Virginia, Fire and Rescue Department and the Los Angeles County, California, Fire Department. USAID/OFDA logistics officers in Washington, D.C., coordinate the delivery of relief supplies from regional warehouse hubs to affected areas via air, sea, or land. USAID/OFDA provided nearly $100 million for relief commodities, including in-kind assistance, grants, and associated transport assistance, to 50 countries throughout the world in Fiscal Year 2011. The agency played a pivotal role in supporting relief and recovery efforts in Pakistan following unprecedented flooding in July 2010, which affected more than 20 million people and covered one-fifth of Pakistan's territory. USAID/OFDA logisticians helped establish and serve on the Pakistan-led Joint Aviation Coordination Cell to improve the delivery of aid to flood-affected populations. Between late July and October 2010, USAID/OFDA logistics officers dispatched 24 flights carrying more than 237,000 blankets, 208,000 water containers, 12,000 rolls of plastic sheeting, 12 water storage bladders, and other emergency relief supplies to Pakistan from the USAID/OFDA warehouses in Dubai, Pisa, and Miami. The agency also purchased local supplies, valued at nearly $3.5 million, including 600,000 bars of soap, 200,000 water containers, 120,000 tarps, and 170,000 blankets. In Haiti, USAID/OFDA logistics specialists dispatched emergency relief supplies, including 5.3 million oral rehydration salt sachets, 15 million water purification tablets, 600,000 liters of Ringer's lactate intravenous solution, and 2,000 cholera beds, valued at nearly $5.6 million, to support logistics and the delivery of relief supplies for cholera prevention and treatment. The agency also procured 25 diarrheal disease kits from McKesson, a pharmaceutical distributor, through the Interagency Agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In Libya, following civilian demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, USAID/OFDA logistics specialists played a pivotal role in facilitating USG staff movement to and within Libya, as well as in delivering emergency relief supplies, including 12 interagency emergency health kits, each sufficient to support 10,000 people for three months. The agency provided nearly $5 million to support logistics and the distribution of relief commodities in Libya in Fiscal Year 2011.