LWG - About

The origin of the Logistics Working Group

Why?

Madagascar is one of the African countries most vulnerable to hydrometeorological risks. This extreme vulnerability to risks of natural disasters has materialized in recent years by an increasingly pessimistic seasonal weather forecast which puts forward an annual probability of occurrence of two to three cyclones for the Big Island and an estimate of around 100,000,000. USD of the costs of loss and damage caused by their passage after each cyclone season, and one of the sectors which is identified to be the most affected is the Logistics sector in general but also and above all the transport sector because the roads, the bridges are among the infrastructures identified as being the hardest hit, further exacerbating the difficulty of access to some districts, some communes and some fokontany which, already in normal times, are particularly isolated and where accessibility remains a major challenge.
In recent years, like in 2017 and 2018, it has become clear that the results of the studies which have put forward these estimates unfortunately reflect the reality observed after the passage of a cyclone or intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) throughout the national territory.
To address this alarming situation, Madagascar has already, since 2016, adopted a new national risk and disaster management policy (PNGRC) and updated its national risk and disaster management strategy (SNGRC) on the basis of the Sendai Framework guidelines (2015-2030) and which formalize at national level:
-> Its determination toredouble its efforts to reinforce the reduction of risks and disasters, to reduce human losses in the event of calamities.
−> Its willingness to begin the process of integrating risk and disaster reduction into all national development policies.
By the strength of all these institutional initiatives, Madagascar has also benefited for several years already, from the support of the World Food Program (WFP) in terms of capacity building in many areas in which it is positioned as the world leader, and in particular that of logistics.
Since 2018, the Global Logistics Cluster has implemented a “preparedness” strategy and has identified 6 target countries to initiate the implementation of this process. The selection of these countries was made on the basis of risk indexes, national logistics performance and capacity indicators. Madagascar was chosen from these 6 countries (the others being Bangladesh, the Republic of Laos, Malawi, Mozambique and the Pacific region).
The main objective of this strategy is to ensure that national stakeholders have the tools and knowledge necessary to take ownership of humanitarian logistics operations and reach vulnerable communities in the event of a disaster. Thanks to the support of the dedicated staff of the Logistics Working Group in the country, the project aims to improve coordination, collaboration and knowledge sharing. Activities includes providing government-led training and simulations to identify supply chain challenges and vulnerabilities, developing key documents, and integrating data and mapping technologies into disaster planning.

"The Logistics Working Group (LWG) is a working group made up of all national and international actors based in Madagascar working in support of activities for vulnerable populations, infrastructure rehabilitation; allowing to share and make available all information, logistical capacity and material, in support of the facilitation of humanitarian assistance. "