SUMA
The Miracle Cure for all Logistical Ills?
Since its inception in 1990, SUMA, the Supply Management Initiative of PAHO/WHO, has
raised a lot of expectations, some legitimate, others wildly unrealistic. Indeed, SUMA is NOT the
miracle solution to each and every logistical nightmare in relief operations.
This document attempts to clarify what SUMA in the Americas is and pretends to do and,
more importantly, what it is not and cannot pretend to be doing.
Is SUMA a coordination tool? ………… Yes, it is its raison d’être:
SUMA has been designed to collect and compile information on all supplies arriving or
transiting towards the disaster area. It provides a snapshot of the flow of all humanitarian
goods (donated or purchased), regardless of their ownership (UN, NGOs, governments,
etc.) and origin (domestic or international). SUMA can be seen as a “central logistical data
warehouse”. Good and timely information on available supplies is essential for coordination
among all actors.
Is SUMA only for governments?…………. Definitely No!
In each disaster, there is a body or institution in charge of overall coordination: the United
Nations in some complex disasters or the national civil defense or some similar government
agency in other cases. SUMA is a tool to assist the coordinator in his/her role. SUMA
usefulness is based on the free exchange of information. Everyone should be able to know
what has been received and distributed. This information helps to reduce duplications and
avoid crying gaps in supply. In the future, SUMA information should become publicly
available on the web!
Is SUMA an instrument for “control and command”?……… NO!
SUMA is designed to provide the agency responsible for oversight of the relief effort with
the consolidated technical information it needs on the resources flowing into the disaster
area. The main safeguards against abuse of information by one party– always a possibilityare the involvement of the international community and PAHO/WHO in particular in the
entire process and the broadest dissemination of the information through the Web. In recent
disasters in the Americas, the problem was a resistance or refusal to allow SUMA access to
warehouses or supplies rather than the misuse of information for control purpose.
Unscrupulous authorities that wish to appropriate humanitarian supplies have little use for
the detailed technical information provided by SUMA. There have other mechanisms under
their exclusive control far more efficient for this purpose!
So, SUMA promotes transparency? …Yes, it has become the main factor in its adoption.
And with transparency comes accountability. Transparency and accountability is not only
something required from recipient governments but should apply to all humanitarian actors:
UN and NGOs. The world being as is, there is and will always be some resistance to the
sharing and exchange of information on humanitarian supplies. This problem can only be
addressed through education and international pressure.
Is SUMA a management tool for my agency? …….Not primarily!
SUMA is not primarily designed to offer large humanitarian agencies the sophisticated
Commodity Tracking System (CTS) that they may require for the administration of and reporting
on their resources. Those humanitarian organizations either need to buy a commercial
product out of the shelf, or more often, to design or adapt a system to their own particular
needs. It is an expensive and demanding process that many national or international
agencies cannot afford. However, small and mid-size local organizations can improve their
performance with the regular use of SUMA (see below).
Can SUMA import data from my CTS? …..Unfortunately not yet.
Agencies are not using one unique code or classification for relief items. There is no practical
possibility to reconcile electronically the data. A group chaired by WFP and UNICEF is
working on a common terminology or coding to permit all current and future systems to
exchange data with SUMA. As of now, they do not speak the same itemized language.
I cannot afford a professional CTS…Can SUMA help? ….Yes, in a modest way.
As a sideline to its main coordination and transparency functions, SUMA has responded to
the many requests from the end-users. SUMA now offers some simple, some would say
simplistic, modules for the management of pledges, the stock control in warehouses, and
other basic operational functions. It is far from what an agency needs to monitor and track
the flow of its goods from the supplier to the recipient. But it is a solid- and free of chargeentry point for those who cannot afford better. SUMA is also a development tool to build
the logistical capacity of those smaller actors that include the local health services and the
Emergency committees in the affected countries.
So SUMA is a software program? ……. No, it is not that simple!
In fact, the software is not the most important aspect of SUMA. SUMA is, first and
foremost, a tool with which to build local capacity, educate the policymakers on the
importance of coordination, transparency and accountability. Yes the software is needed to
support this function and materialize the concept in real form. Most of the resources are
dedicated to human resource development, technical cooperation and support .
The software is at the cutting edge of the technology? …No, and it should not.
Indeed the software, by design, has to be operating on whatever equipment and platform the
affected country has. Being web-dependent or memory-hungry would rule out its use in
many under-equipped places. But, times have changed faster than expected. Full
transparency requires a web-based approach and most target countries have access to the
latest equipment and technology. Upgrading the software is now the priority, albeit an
expensive one.
Finally, what PAHO/WHO has to do with all this?
The main technical challenge in sorting/inventorying humanitarian supplies is in the health
sector. In a disaster situation, most of the supplies are directly or indirectly relevant to the
health sector. The incredible variety of health related items (medicines, equipment, surgical
tools, etc) and the need for detailed specifications to make any reporting useful for decision
making are calling for the leading involvement of the specialized health agency.
There is an additional historical explanation: In the Americas, SUMA had been initialed
intended only for supplies intended for public health. However, both national authorities
(Foreign Affairs, Civil Defense) and donors quickly realized that a modest additional
investment would permit to develop a comprehensive logistical support system. That how
PAHO/WHO found itself the lead agency for a multi-sectorial SUMA. The winner has been
the Ministry of Health that gained considerable status and information nationally.