The United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC): The Afghanistan Crisis

This case describes the activities of the United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC), activated in response to the Afghanistan crisis, during the first six months. The UNJLC dealt with operational and logistics bottlenecks between Afghanistan and its neighboring countries as well as within Afghanistan (trucking, warehousing, air operations, infrastructure network, and security), deconflicted humanitarian operations with combatant and peacekeeping military forces and responded to the information needs of logistics planners.

This case allows the students to discuss their views on the role and function of the UNJLC and its evolution during complex disasters. Using the lifecycle framework, the case allows the identification of the UNJLC�s four phases: ramp-up phase, debottlenecking (corridors) and deconflicting (military), maturity phase and exit strategy. The case also highlights the important role of information brokerage in humanitarian logistics coordination.