10. Session (Online parallel session)

COVID-19 Case studies

Thursday 25.11. at 15:30-16:45
Chair: Amin Maghsoudi, Hanken School of Economics, HUMLOG Institute, Finland

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A simulation model of hospital resources in the covid19 pandemic

A huge number of models were developed to estimate the evolution of the covid19 pandemic, but hospital dynamics is very specific. A simulation model of hospital resources developed for the first wave in Madrid is shown, comparing it with other waves.

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Precarious workers-Humanitarian supply chain and in kind-in cash benefit dilemma : A case study of Pandemic in Thailand 2020-2021

Under the COVID-19 crisis, there is a lot of debates on what form of welfare for the precarious workers should be. In the first year of the crisis, countries with better welfare systems were able to cope with health problems as well as the economic recession. Contrastingly, the inequality of the countries where welfare systems are based on market mechanisms and individual selfresponsibility is increasing during the crisis. The proper welfare to recover people from the vulnerability consist of three characteristics; adequate punctual and predictable. The effects are not only for subsistence but facilitate individual in precarious condition to manage their own lives better. An important question is what form of welfare can best be directed to those who need it. In this article, a comparative welfare scheme in Thailand is presented. The welfare system used in Thailand during the COVID- 19 crisis consists of four characteristics: 1. In Kind scheme on universal basis, 2. In Kind scheme with mean-test or selective basis, 3. In cash scheme on universal basis, and 4. In cash scheme with mean-test or selective basis. According to literature review, it was found that the universal system has coverage for the most demanding people, while in cash system is likely to facilitate with fundamental issues of precarious workers.

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An integrated Resource Scheduling and Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) model for Post disaster Humanitarian Supply Chain (HSC)

COVID-19 pandemic made the world realize that mitigation is compulsory to tackle the uncertain situation. Sequencing and scheduling of items in production and manufacturing industry is the requirement of industrial sector for on time delivery and customer satisfaction. In Humanitarian Supply Chain (HSC) network however sequencing and scheduling of resources that need to be delivered and vehicles that need to be used for delivery is a crucial job as not only time constraint is there, but also human life is at risk and above all uncertainties makes sequencing and scheduling job arduous. Because of the complexity involve in scheduling few researchers have done research in this area. This research proposes a situation where two disasters occur simultaneously including earthquake and pandemic. A software-based solution is developed where both expandable resources (vaccination, construction material) and non-expendable resources (Nurses, Labors) are to be transported with in the defined time window frame to affected area with the aim of reducing the Makespan and minimizing unmet demand. Proposed Model is checked for a small set of data frame and results shows that model provides reasonable solution. The model can further be improved for dealing with large data sets and by introducing uncertainty in the model.

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Displacement and the COVID-19 pandemic: the case of Moria refugee camp

The Eastern Mediterranean route is one of the most used routes to Europe and it runs from Turkey to Greece and further ahead. The deal between European Union and Turkey signed in 2016 lead to a decrease in the number of incoming people but prolongs the time refugees and migrants have to spend in the camps on the Greek islands. This ongoing research focuses on the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos Island. This is an interesting case considering the complexity of the crisis. Refugees and migrants have been caught up in the protracted crisis (displacement), afflicted by slow onset (the COVID-19 pandemic) and sudden onset disaster (fire) at the same time. This creates extremely a challenging environment for all actors. Refugee camps residents tend to be vulnerable to COVID-19 and other pandemics or epidemics. However, there is little data on the spread of COVID-19 or real interventions in refugee camps. At the same time, there is no existing research mapping the full lifespan of the Moria camp. This gap in existing literature together with the dismal reality of daily life in the camp stresses the research importance. This exploratory study builds on both primary and secondary data analysing conditions in Moria before the fire broke out, steps carried out after this fire, measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and all actors who participated in these activities.

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Challenges of distributing humanitarian aid to children in Iran

Disasters affect children health enormously Children are of the most vulnerable groups in disasters. More importantly, in developing countries where children have a major share of the population , number of fatalities from disasters are more than developed countries. Humanitarian aid aims at helping people affected by disasters to survive A major outcome of humanitarian aid is alleviating the suffering of affected people especially vulnerable groups from planning to distributing goods and cash transfer from point of origin (such as donors and producers) to point of consumption (affected people). Many actors have role in humanitarian aid like donors, logistics service providers, aid agencies, governments, military, and nongovernmental organizations.

In humanitarian aid context, the planning and implementing special needs suitable to the children needs are vital. Thus special needs for each age and gender group should be assessed during need assessment for every context. Logisticians in many disasters are not prepared for confronting with gender differences and often children. Working with children need special knowledge about their emotional, psychological and physical aspects. Therefore, providing the same logistic services or behavior with children and adults during emergencies may result in psychological trauma in children. Enhancing knowledge of different actors in humanitarian logistics is very important for children’s health. Donors, producers, governments, humanitarian organizations, other non-governmental organizations, military should learn more about children needs. They should consider children interest from planning to implement their efforts in humanitarian logistics from top (managers and etc.) to down (aid worker, driver, soldier and etc.) Of their hierarchy and it will affect enormously children health and wellbeing during and after disasters. The purpose of this study is to find out the challenges that exist in the distribution of humanitarian aid to children. Data was collected using interviews with 21 humanitarian logistics experts and youth deputies in the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS). The IRCS in Iran is responsible of preparedness, response and aid collection and distribution in disasters.

Findings

1. Socio-cultural considerations: type of items (i.e. toys that are acceptable in the culture of disaster-affected community), gender differences in needs of children

2. Distribution considerations: height of the distribution point, time of distribution (i.e. late time is not safe for children), place of distribution, weight of packages, size of packages

3. Personnel challenges: education of aid-workers about needs of children, diversity in aid-workers

4. Psychosocial challenges: child abuse, referral to specialized services

Conclusion

The results of this study showed that children faced various challenges in receiving humanitarian assistance during disasters. Although the purpose of humanitarian aid is to alleviate their suffering, the aid process seems to have been another cause of harm, which is a contradiction. It is suggested that international organizations such as UNICEF and the IFRC set standards for helping children. Subsequently, humanitarian organizations at the national and local levels will revise their guidelines and implement these standards. It is also suggested that researchers study the standard framework more extensively.