On 13 April 2009, the INSEAD Social Innovation Centre and INSEAD Centre for Executive Education and Research in Abu Dhabi, hosted a presentation and book launch for Professor Luk Van Wassenhove and Rolando Tomasini's book, Humanitarian Logistics.   Partnerships were the over arching theme for the event as partnerships between different sectors have resulted in great successes that improve efficiencies, see aid delivered under extreme conditions, and generate mutually beneficial resource and information sharing for all parties.

Humanitarian organisations have for long excelled in their ability to respond to unpredictable events, with limited resources under pressure.  Constantly operating within a scenario of changing needs and actors, humanitarian organisations can be a repository of operational knowledge valuable to other organisations trying to adapt to the difficult, and somewhat unprecedented, conditions in which business is done today.

As part of the presentation on partnerships in humanitarian logistics, the Fleet Forum was asked to join in the dialogue and present on our work and the partnerships with other agencies, the commercial sector and INSEAD that have allowed us to achieve several key initiatives.  This includes the Fleet Forum's longstanding relationship with TNT who have greatly contributed resources to Fleet Forum since its inception, playing a pivotal role in all activities, Kjaer Group who's active role in the Fleet Safety Project has helped to provide foundations for the initiative, and INSEAD which has long provided the academic rigour, structure, analysis and independent voice on complex issues the Fleet Forum tackles as it strives to address major issues in humanitarian transport.

For more information on the book and INSEAD's Humanitarian Research Group, a part of the Social Innovation Centre, visit their website.