Continuing the journey

Pamela (4th from left) with trainer Giles Marion (far right)
and trainees at a recent PSA training event in Dubai

Dear friends, for over 4 years I've written in this blog about some of the people I've met and the places I've been in my work as a humanitarian and development supply chain specialist.

My first blog was called 'Humanitarian Logistics, a Career for Women' and since then my own career has moved on. In that time, I've moved from being a Supply Chain Capacity Development Specialist in UNICEF in Copenhagen, to starting out as an independent consultant before establishing my own limited company, 'Pamela Steele Associates' or PSA, in Oxford.

This blog is not my last, but you may have noticed that I haven't blogged here recently. Instead, I've decided to focus my attention on the PSA blog and newsletter. I hope you will continue to follow me there. I will preserve this blog as a record of the journey so far, for the happy memories it represents. But for future updates follow me on the PSA blog, the PSA Facebook page or sign up for our quarterly newsletter. See you there!

10 years on, has the Make Poverty History Campaign had any meaningful results?

In 2005, Nelson Mandela emphasised that extreme poverty could be overcome in the same way apartheid and slavery were. In the same spirit, the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign was part of a massive push to tackle world poverty. Tens of millions of people demanded that their leaders deliver trade justice, increase and improve aid, and write off public debts of poor countries. We believed these issues were at the core of poverty.


On behalf of Oxfam I was selected to join a group of African women to deliver messages from the public to the British Prime Minster, Tony Blair.

Pam in gold coloured outfit in front of no.10 delivering petition

We walked proudly into Downing Street with traditional baskets balanced precariously on our heads. They overflowed with almost half a million petition signatures, making this the biggest petition ever received by a British Prime Minister.


Such a display of people power led to unparalleled pressure on G8 leaders to take decisive action at the Gleneagles Summit in Edinburgh. This resulted in a commitment to cancel debts owed to international financial institutions. Leaders also agreed to increase aid to less developed nations by $50 billion by 2010.

But 10 years on, what has actually been achieved?

Progress

With earlier programmes included, $97 billion in debt relief has been provided. 36 of 39 eligible countries have finished the debt relief process.


The most notable achievements have been in health and education. 10 African nations whose debts have been cancelled have witnessed astounding growth of 40% on education spending, and 70% on healthcare. As a result, 35 million more children across sub-Saharan Africa have been able to start primary education since 2005. Millions of children, girls in particular, now have the opportunity to learn to read and write. When school fees in Uganda were abolished as a result of debt relief, the number of children enrolled in primary schools more than doubled to over 5 million over the next four years. Further, through bringing together aid and domestic resources, the government of Mali has been able to employ over 20,000 new teachers.


In terms of healthcare, Africa received about $11 billion more in aid in 2010 than in 2004. This supported some life-changing, and often life-saving, expansion: of vaccine coverage; of major programmes targeting malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis; and of safe childbirth. In Zambia, debt relief replaced user fees for healthcare facilities in rural areas. As a direct result, visits to government facilities have increased by 50%. Prior to that, Zambia had been paying double in debt cancellation what it was able to spend on healthcare. In Sierra Leone, which has consistently had one of the highest maternal death rates globally, aid has made basic healthcare free for mothers and babies. This has led to nearly three times as many children attending health clinics.



Arguably the most profound change is in the perceived achievability of Make Poverty History’s mission. In 2005, many had resigned themselves to extreme poverty being permanent. However, 10 years on, the goal of ensuring that no person should live in absolute poverty by the year 2030 will be enshrined within the Sustainable Development Goals, to be signed by world leaders in September of this year. The reason for the new sense of possibility is that we are already halfway there.

Failures

While there are many causes for celebration, there have been missed targets and broken promises that have led to ongoing suffering and poverty. In 2011, according to the World Bank, over a billion people remained in extreme poverty. To take a specific example, there is still a long way to go in providing universal HIV/AIDS treatment. As of 2014, only 37% of people who need antiretroviral treatment are receiving it.


Such a terrible reality is partly due to the G8 falling far short of their combined promise of $50 billion in aid by the 2010 deadline. EU nations remain considerably off-track regarding their promise to dedicate 0.7% of gross national income to aid by 2015. The USA was the only country to fulfil its (very modest) pledge.

Instead of coming clean about this failure, the G8 have been accused of manipulating figures. Rather than adjusting aid figures for inflation, the G8 have used 2010 prices. This sleight of hand makes it appear as though they have delivered almost $49 billion instead of the accurate figure of $31 billion. This shortfall could have funded: school attendance for every child in the world; the salaries of almost 800,000 midwives in sub-Saharan Africa; and life-saving mosquito nets for 1 million people.

Concluding thoughts

Despite the negatives, back in 2005 public pressure led to powerful promises. Without these promises, it is certain that far less progress would have been achieved. The campaign demonstrated that ordinary people can make a real difference, particularly when G8 leaders are acutely aware of the world’s attention, and that setting ambitious anti-poverty targets is worth it. If we can achieve that level of progress again, we could be much closer to finally eradicating extreme poverty.


Pamela Steele is director and principal consultant at PSA Ltd, an Oxford-based consultancy working to strengthen national health supply chains in developing countries.

Three countries in three weeks

I'm relaxing back home in Oxford with my husband after three weeks of travelling to Copenhagen (26-30th Oct), Bangkok (2-8th Nov) and Brussels (10-13th Nov).

In Copenhagen I attended the very successful 2nd 'People that Deliver' (PtD) Global Conference on Human Resources in Supply Chain Management. This was by far the best managed conference I have attended. The program was well thought through and the range of speakers and the diversity of the participants was impressive with more than 120 participants from 20 countries. I learnt a lot from the discussions which were rich and fruitful.

'Supply Chain Capacity Development' training in Bangkok

Unfortunately I had to leave Copenhagen before the board meeting to fly to Bangkok, Thailand to run the PSA Health Supply Chain Capacity Development (SCCD) course. The
participants were great, they were engaged and the event was a success. I am always
humbled when after five days the participants go away feeling confident to
implement an action point or two.

One participant told me, “Now I am confident to work in a team designing a national supply chain capacity building. This SCCD training should be provided to higher level Health Managers having a say (executing SCCD activities and budget) on the health supply chain system.”

From Bangkok I headed to Brussels to run a three day logistics and supply-chain course at HLA/AidEx 2014, an exhibition and conference dedicated to the supply of essential equipment
and services for long term humanitarian development aid and disaster relief. The AidEx
event attracts buyers from the global humanitarian aid community to exhibit their products.

After the training, I was able to visit some of the stands and witnessed many innovative products on display, including vehicles to withstand the terrain typical of the aid environment, water containers and shelter tents. I was most impressed to see womens' hygiene and dignity kits, which didn't exist until after the 2004 Tsunami disaster! I was able to reconnect with my former colleagues, Rod and Sean, from Oxfam at their stand where they served a delicious coffee to revive my spirit!

Pamela and Sean at HLA/AidEx 2014

From Arusha to Bangkok!

Course participants, Arusha, Tanzania

‘Before (the course), I could not differentiate between Supply Chain Capacity Development and Technical Assistance, thinking both terms are the same’ one participant told me after PSA's recent SCCD training course in Arusha, Tanzania.

The training was held in the beautiful Kibo Palace Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania, which had very good facilities with great service from staff as well as having an excellent atmosphere for learning.

The 15 participants came from various countries and different organizations including RTI Envision Uganda and Mozambique; MSH/SCMS - Ethiopia; Pharmacy Council – Tanzania; NTD Control Programme IMA (TZ); ITI – Ethiopia and Atlanta; Christian Social Services Commission Tanzania and Central Medical Stores-Zanzibar. Everyone was fully engaged and able to relate the course material to the situations they face in their everyday work.

Part of the course covers terminology, including the difference between Supply Chain Capacity Development and Technical Assistance. Many people treat them as meaning the same but we recognise an important distinction.

Capacity Development is a longer term process during which individuals, organizations and society acquire and improve the skills and knowledge needed to reach their goals autonomously and on a sustainable basis. Capacity Development can include training but not all Capacity Development involves training.

In contrast, Technical Assistance is about individual(s) performing an expert function on behalf of, or instead of, someone else. So TA is about substituting capacity.

Participants receive course completion certificates

If you want to learn more about Capacity Development to strengthen your organisation’s supply chain then sign up for our next SCCD course to be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 3rd Nov-7th November 2014. Places are limited so don’t hesitate. I look forward to seeing you there.

Click here: SCCD bookings

Supply Chain Capacity Development course launched

SCCD participants receive their course certificates

On June 23rd, PSA launched its new course in 'Supply Chain Capacity Development' (SCCD). SCCD is about managing change, taking a long term perspective. It is about strengthening the enabling institutional environment as well as the capacity of the individuals working in the supply chain.

After months of preparation, I was ready to train the first course participants at our office in Oxford. Some came from the UK but others travelled from as far as Nigeria, Syria and Lebanon. All came to learn a systematic approach to meet the growing demands on aid delivery for health system strengthening. I hope that everyone left with the confidence to embark on their own SCCD programme. 

Thank you to all who were there. We enjoyed lively discussions and were able to learn from each others experiences. In fact one trainee sharing about his organization’s emergency response operations in Syria, spoke movingly of his role, reminding us of why we work in the humanitarian and development sector. He highlighted the need for continuous learning to improve service delivery to those who are suffering.

I hope we will keep on touch. Trainees qualify as members of the Health Supply Chain Systems Strengthening (SCCD trained) Alumni group. For the next three months, I will be providing support to them as they return to their offices to work on their own SCCD programmes. 

The course is aimed primarily at senior managers, decision makers and other supply chain professionals. There is a global roll-out, and, in September, I'll be taking the course to Arusha, Tanzania. Click for the full schedule.

Hope to see you there! 

Book by August 1st to qualify for the discounted early bird rate.

Supply chain best practice seminars: Multimodal hears how smart thinking meets the ever increasing humanitarian need

I recently attended Multimodal Seminar 2014 at the NEC Birmingham, starting on 29th April, 2014. Multimodal, now entering its eighth year, is the UK and Ireland's leading freight transport and logistics exhibition. It features topical seminars and masterclasses, and hosts a Shippers' Village, giving freight buyers a private space to meet logistics suppliers. The seminars on 29th were organised in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and the Freight Transport Association (FTA). 

The exhibitors represented all of logistics, and the software and hardware suppliers. It is where shippers, importers, exporters, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers go to seek ways of running a slicker supply chain. The 2014 show broke all previous records with more than 7,100 visitors, nearly 300 exhibitors, an appearance by HRH Princess Anne, the patron of Transaid, and by Kevin Keegan, the legendary footballer who entertained at the VIP dinner. Transaid is an International development charity, championing local transport solutions for people in Africa and developing countries. 

Recent events, such as the Syrian Crisis and the Philippines hurricane, have highlighted the need for more focus on developing logistics and supply chain capabilities, enabling countries and economies hit by disaster to recover and move on. That's why it’s important to continue work in this area and to educate the public about humanitarian supply chain operations and its challenges. This CILT knowledge sharing event brought together key sector experts. A variety of themes were discussed, for example, Transaid looked at how team building can help save lives in the developing world. 

Mike Whiting, senior logistics consultant for the World Food Programme (WFP), chaired a seminar on humanitarian logistics on the opening day of the exhibition. He reported that aid costs increased by 430%  between 2004, the year of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and 2013. Last year, half of those facing humanitarian needs were in conflict-affected areas, up from 25% 10 years ago. No fewer than four countries – Syria, the Philippines, South Sudan and the Central African Republic – faced maximum “level three” crises last year.

Seated from left to right: Mike Whiting, visiting lecturer in humanitarian logistics, Cranfield University, consultant at WFP and OCHA; Dorothea de Carvalho, professional development project director, CILT; Martijn Blansjaar, head of logistics and supply, international division, Oxfam; Chris Weeks, director of humanitarian affairs, DHL/DPWN 

Whiting said: “The system is having to deal with problems of increasing scale and complexity, which has profound implications. We need to find a more locally based, anticipatory approach – a more creative way of dealing with the logistics challenge that faces us.” He also said the institute could be  a catalyst for change. “We must listen to what those in peril want, not impose what we think they need,” he added.

Raising the status and enhancing the professionalism of humanitarian logistics, challenges and opportunities. 

Dorothea de Carvalho, CILT’s professional development project director, said people development was critical. More than 1,000 students have now passed through the institute’s certified qualification programme in humanitarian logistics, developed in association with organisations such as WFP, Save the Children, the Red Cross, Oxfam and UNICEF.

Logistics professionals can study for a humanitarian supply chain management qualification, while a specialist medical logistics practices strand (Medlog) is suitable for doctors or nurses needing to understand “the unique requirements of running a cold chain,” de Carvalho said. She urged  companies to sponsor students or offer work placements for graduates, to help benchmark their work against what was happening in the commercial sector. 

Martijn Blansjaar, head of logistics and supply, for Oxfam’s international division, said airlines offering cargo space to the charity had become fashionable in the 1990s, only to result in aid supplies failing to fly because the paperwork was not right.

Oxfam now benefited from fantastic long-term arrangements with JCB, which regularly supplied digging and lifting equipment, and British Airways, which could usually offer free capacity within  days of a crisis developing, Blansjaar said.

Chris Weeks, director of humanitarian affairs at DHL, said the company was helping disaster  preparations by helping airports in high-risk areas to be ready for a surge in incoming air freight. 

“The trick is to act smarter,” Weeks said. He contrasted the “old world” model of sending bottles of water, with today’s focus on purification units and jerrycans. “Disaster response is becoming more professional and co-ordinated. We’ve got to upskill and change the profile of our employees,” Weeks said.

Whiting concluded the seminar saying: “We can’t go on as we were, transformative logistics is needed. Training people in storage and distribution will control the amount of food wasted between harvest and end user. We have to go from tonnage-based to knowledge-based operations.” 

“Thinking more sustainably and helping people to help themselves can save a huge amount of long-term investment,” he said. He quoted an example from Tanzania, where at one time cola drinks were obtainable everywhere, but not essential drugs. Following collaboration between Coca-Cola and the Ministry of Health, medical supplies were now being distributed by those delivering the soft drinks across the country.

But the event wasn’t all trucks and bodies, DSV, a Danish company, was giving free food to the CILT  Knowledge Lounge. Having lived in Denmark, when I worked for the United Nations, I’m familiar with their fantastic cuisine. As soon as I spotted my favourite Danish herring, my mouth began to water, prompting my stomach to lead me to where all the human traffic was heading. 

You can guess what followed, and my humanitarian day out was smashing!

The evening ended with a wonderful roundtable discussion on key matters with Martijn Blansjaar, Dorothea de Carvalho, George Fenton (director for supply chain, World Vision International) and Dr  Silvia Rossi of Cranfield University, who also teaches humanitarian logistics and supply chain.

While humanitarian logistics is what I do, as well as building new connections, I also learnt something new about the CILT’s resources, both online and traditional, and that they can provide one-to-one services. I just need to sign up to benefit from the service.

Facing breast cancer in the UK and in Africa

All of my past blogs have focused on many different topics surrounding poverty and the varied problems in our world, but this time I write about me personally. When I read about American actress, Angelina Jolie going public about her mastectomy in 2013 I never imagined I would go through a similar experience.

David and Pam wait for Pam to be taken to theatre

I was diagnosed with DCIS, early breast cancer, on August 8 2013, and had a mastectomy less than three months later, on October 21 2013. Since then I have been recovering slowly but steadily. In fact, just a month later, on November 18 2013, I was standing in front of third year engineering students at Oxford University, delivering a guest lecture on humanitarian logistics operations and innovation (you can read the blog on this below). Little did they know how conscious I was of my asymmetrical chest. But the thought of whether there are any women out there whose chests are totally symmetrical kept me comforted. I was only able to give the lecture, and see clearly that day because of the effective and efficient care I received from my oncologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital here in Oxford. Along with the wonderful support from my husband, daughters, church members, relatives and friends from all over the globe who supported me each step of the way. They kept me positive, strong and brave enough to face it all.

I consider myself very fortunate to live and work in Britain where cancer detection and treatment is so advanced. Right from the day I was diagnosed, the care had been professional and carefully handled. From the mammogram tests to biopsies to surgery and after care. And you know what?  There was no charge.

When I first heard my diagnosis, I was so sad and shocked my brain felt like a frozen ice cube, but not angry to ask “why me?” – because why should it be anyone? Of course, I worried about dying and leaving behind my children and my husband, who I want to grow old with. I also worried about not being there for my mother and family in Kenya.

I would not have made the journey without a positive attitude, and those who supported me. They sent emails, cards, flowers, texts and rung to hear my voice, and those who live in England visited me in hospital and at home after being discharged. But above all it was the quality of the health care that I was able to receive. My oncologist, nurse and GP still follow up to check that I am recovering well, and, yes, I am, and fortunately my cancer had not spread to other organs.

Pam recovering in hospital

In fact, in February 2014 I was able to make my first trip abroad since my surgery, to Copenhagen for work, and last week I travelled to Paris to attend the humanitarian logistics general assembly and summit (oh, I should blog about the Paris trip next!). It was wonderful to reconnect with senior logisticians, heads of humanitarian logistics operations (from various aid organizations) and Humanitarian Logistics Association Board members, and catch up with how they have managed with being so busy over 2013, responding to major disasters of the year; the Syrian Crisis  and the Philippines hurricane  just to mention a few. It was good to learn of the humanitarian challenges ahead and the things that keep logisticians awake.

But why blog about this? It’s because my experience reminded me of the situation of the many poor people in this world who struggle to access even the most basic healthcare. Particularly those in developing countries who, when diagnosed with something like cancer, would face a certain death sentence. During my illness, I read some sad stories of poor women in Africa who could not find help when they were diagnosed with breast cancer, as their relatives would not even let them talk about it. In fact, some were told to consider visiting traditional healers; in the meantime the tumours would grow and burst. A horrific experience that no one should have to go through. During that time, I also read that a key breast cancer drug, herceptin, cost USD 1,600 per patient per month. And I wondered how on earth people who can barely put food on the table afford this? My own experience, and these people’s experience, put into perspective the importance of my research in public health supply chains. 

My cancer being caught early, the appropriate quality treatment beginning without delay, and at no cost to my family, are the reasons why my hopes were rekindled. I would like poor people in low- and middle-income countries to one day also be able to have the kind of care I received. This is why I’m calling upon national government policy makers to do more for their people, and improve healthcare financing. Starting with setting up cancer screening equipment at district levels, train all of their nurses to know how to use the equipment, and lastly to make testing completely free of charge.

And to any one reading this blog, especially women, please take the first step to go for breast cancer screening, as an early diagnosis can help save your life. This was my experience when I felt a tumour on my left breast and decided to visit my GP. The rest is history. If I had not moved as fast, I may have been writing a different story or none at all.