SUMA 10 YEARS

Humanitarian Relief Supply Management project

Decennium SUMA  1992-2002 

The SUMA project, an information management tool for the effective management of humanitarian supplies from PAHO/WHO, was initiated officially in 1992 as a successful effort from various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The project was developed with the financial support during eight years from the government of the Netherlands, and the support from other governments like England, United States, Canada, Germany and ECHO, the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office.

Since it’s start, more than 3000 volunteers have been trained in the application of the SUMA software and the integral logistical management of relief supplies. In various countries national SUMA teams have been formed, consisting of a multidisciplinary and interagency group of (logistical) experts, to be employed when SUMA is mobilized in disaster situations. If necessary at sub-regional level like in the Caribbean or the Andes, SUMA teams from neighboring countries help to supplement the national efforts.

Ten years later, this effort has built a critical mass of dedicated supporters for an integrated and professional approach in the management of supplies. Consequently, the need for a national policy on management of donations, including medicines, has received the attention of the highest authorities (presidency, foreign affairs, legislative bodies…). SUMA has been designated or recognized as the standard tool in the majority of the countries in the region of the Americas and has been used in all major disaster events in the region. It has evolved into an indicator and tool to improve transparency and accountability during the response phase in times of a disaster. When in earlier days maybe some 15% of all donated goods were registered by the SUMA system and therefore could be accounted for, nowadays only some 15% of the donations do not pass through the SUMA system, therefore avoiding accountability to the public and the coordination by health or other authorities.

A recent independent external evaluation, which has been undertaken at the request of PAHO, to evaluate the use of SUMA in the most recent big disaster event, during the earthquakes at January 13 and February 13 2001 in El Salvador, had very positive main findings about the use of SUMA. Some of those conclusions were that SUMA is the only widely accepted system in the Latin American and Caribbean region for helping to manage humanitarian assistance supplies. And that almost all of the humanitarian assistance that arrived by air (90%) or that was purchased by, or destined for, the government of El Salvador was registered by SUMA.

Further, the report says that SUMA was an important element in strengthening El Salvador’s national capacity for managing humanitarian assistance and that it plays a clear role as a tool for transparency and accountability.

The ¨Stockholm Challenge Award¨ (category Health & Quality of life) gained by the SUMA Project last September, was a great acknowledgement of the success of this project.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

World Health Organization (WHO)

Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS)

Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS)

Humanitarian Supply Management System

Sistema de Manejo Suministros Humanitarios