The United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC) was created to optimise and complement the logistics

Logistics

Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...

 capabilities of cooperating agencies within a well-defined crisis

Crisis

A crisis is any event that is, or expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community or whole society...

 area for the benefit of the ongoing humanitarian operation.

The UNJLC provides logistics support at operational planning, coordination and monitoring level. Unless specified otherwise, UN Agencies and other humanitarian bodies, which are established in the area, will continue to exercise their normal responsibilities. As a result, the UNJLC will not be involved in policy

Policy

A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...

 and establishment of humanitarian needs and priorities.

Functions

• Collecting, analyzing and disseminating logistics information relevant to the ongoing humanitarian operation,
• Scheduling the movement of humanitarian cargo and relief workers within the crisis area, using commonly available transport assets,
• Managing the import, receipt, dispatch and tracking of non-assigned food and non-food relief commodities;
• Upon specific request, make detailed assessments of roads, bridges, airports, ports and other logistics infrastructure and recommend actions for repair and reconstruction

The scope of the UNJLC activities may vary with the type of emergency, the scale of involvement of the cooperating partners and the humanitarian needs. In general terms, the UNJLC would:

• Serve as an information platform for supporting humanitarian logistics operations;
• Upon specific request, coordinate the use of available warehouse capacity;
• Coordinate the influx of strategic humanitarian airlift
  Airlift
  Airlift is the act of transporting people or cargo from point to point using aircraft.Airlift may also refer to:*Airlift , a suction device for moving sand and silt underwater-See also:...
  
   into the crisis area;
• Serve as an information platform for recommending the most efficient modes of transportation;
• Identify logistical bottlenecks and propose satisfactory solutions or alternatives;
• Serve as the focal point for co-ordinating facilitation measures with local authorities for importing, transporting and distributing relief commodities into the country;
• Provide reliable information regarding the logistics capacity in meeting the prioritisation of targets;
• Be the focal point to coordinate humanitarian logistics operations with the Local Emergency Management Authorities (LEMA) or, in a Peacekeeping
  Peacekeeping
  Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
  
   or Complex Environment, with the Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO) or the relevant military
  Military
  A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
  
  entities.