Humanitarian Academy

Mini MBA

Mini MBA Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain: supplying fast, well and fairly

Exactly three months to lead a humanitarian supply chain: forecasting, procurement, Incoterms, transport, warehouses, fleet, customs, cold chain and distributions. Demanding, numerical, free.

  • 3 months · 12 weeks · 144 hours
  • 3 exams · 2 certificates + 1 diploma
  • 3 numerical case studies
  • Verifiable diploma
Start the course
  • Free, unlimited access
  • 12 weeks of in-depth lessons
  • 60 quiz questions and a bank of 90 exam questions
  • 3 numerical case studies and 3 demanding exams
  • Diploma in your name, verifiable online

What you will learn

  • Plan and buy right: quantified needs, safety stocks, compliant procurement and protective contracts.
  • Move, store and import reliably and economically: transport, warehouses, fleet, customs.
  • Prepare and lead a response, manage health products, steer performance and lead the supply chain in a constrained context.

Course information

Level
Advanced: month 1 (strategy and programmes), month 2 (resources and operations), month 3 (leadership and diploma)
Study time
144 hours over exactly 3 months (12 weeks: lessons, worked numerical exercises, case studies)
Format
Online, at your own pace, free and unlimited access
Assessment
Months 1 and 2: 25 questions + case study, 50 min, 80%; diploma: 30 questions on the whole programme + case study, 75 min, 85%
Credential
Named, numbered certificate of achievement, verifiable online (QR code)
Reference frameworks
Global Logistics Cluster · Global Logistics Cluster · Sphere

Enrol in the Mini MBA

Choose your pace. Your enrolment sets your start date: each monthly exam opens at the end of the corresponding month, and the diploma at the earliest exactly 3 months after you start.

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Three months, three exams, one diploma

Each month has four weeks of lessons and ends with a timed exam including a numerical case study. A month's exam only opens at the end of that month after you enrol: the diploma is awarded at the earliest exactly 3 months after you start.

Month 1

Exam: 33 questions · 50 min · 80% to pass

Month 1 certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Map a supply chain, calculate lead times and compare options on landed cost.
  • Forecast demand and plan supply: AMC, safety stock, reorder point, pipeline.
  • Conduct compliant procurement: thresholds, competition, specifications, evaluation and a complete file.
  • Contract with suppliers: Incoterms, total cost, penalties, quality control and performance.
  1. Week1The humanitarian supply chain: actors, flows and costsWhy logistics decides the response · The stages of the supply chain · Actors and coordination · The full logistics cost · Emergency, recovery, development · Mapping your supply chain
  2. Week2Forecasting demand and planning supplyFrom programme to quantified need · Average consumption and forecasting · Safety stock and reorder point · The pipeline and pipeline breaks · Integrated planning · Joint procurement, framework agreements and prepositioning
  3. Week3Buying right: procurement principles, thresholds and proceduresThe principles · Thresholds and procedures · The procurement file · Writing specifications · Criteria and evaluation grid · Ethics, conflicts of interest and suppliers
  4. Week4Supplier contracts, Incoterms, total cost and quality controlIncoterms · Comparing on total cost · Key contractual clauses · Quality control · Evaluating and managing suppliers · Local procurement and markets
  5. Graded case study : Hygiene kits for Baro district Rural district of a fictitious country, 9 weeks before the rainy season · 33 questions including a case study · 80% to pass
Month 2

Exam: 33 questions · 50 min · 80% to pass

Month 2 certificate · Opens at the end of the month, after the Month 1 certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Choose a transport mode, calculate costs and rotations, and track deliveries.
  • Size and manage a warehouse: FEFO, documents, inventories, discrepancies and losses.
  • Manage a fleet and fuel at the best cost, with real controls and road safety.
  • Import in compliance: documents, duties and taxes, exemptions and special regimes.
  1. Week5Transport: modes, costs, contracts and trackingChoosing the mode · Units and basic calculations · Planning rotations · Transport contracts and documents · Tracking and proof of delivery · Transport in difficult contexts
  2. Week6Warehouses and stock management: capacity, turnover, inventories and lossesSizing a warehouse · Organising space and security · Stock documents · Inventories and discrepancies · Stock indicators · Damaged and expired items, and disposal
  3. Week7Managing a fleet: costs, fuel, maintenance and road safetyThe full cost of a vehicle · Buying, renting or pooling · Logbooks and consumption · Fuel management · Maintenance and life cycle · Road safety
  4. Week8Importing: customs, exemptions, documents and lead timesThe customs clearance procedure · The documents · Duties, taxes and customs value · Exemptions and legal frameworks · Special regimes and items · Reducing lead times and costs
  5. Graded case study : The Kassa warehouse and fleet Provincial logistics base of a protracted crisis operation · 33 questions including a case study · 80% to pass
Diploma

Exam: 40 questions · 75 min · 85% to pass

Diploma certificate · Opens at the end of the month, after the Month 2 certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Prepare a response: contingency stocks, prepositioning and accountable distributions.
  • Manage health products and the cold chain safely.
  • Steer the performance, costs and environmental footprint of the supply chain.
  • Lead a supply chain in a constrained context, with digital tools and data protection.
  1. Week9Preparedness, prepositioning and last-mile distributionsLogistics preparedness · Sizing a contingency stock · Where to preposition? · Organising an in-kind distribution · Reconciling and monitoring after the distribution · In kind, vouchers or cash transfers?
  2. Week10Health logistics: medicines, cold chain and quality assuranceThe basic rules for health products · Quantifying health needs · The cold chain · Wastage rate and vaccine efficiency · Falsified products, recalls and waste · Quality assurance and good distribution practices
  3. Week11Measuring performance, controlling costs and reducing the environmental footprintKey indicators · Reading procurement lead time · Logistics costs · False economies · The environmental footprint · Continuous improvement
  4. Week12Leading the supply chain: constrained contexts, digital tools, organisation and final projectSupply chains in conflict and sanctions contexts · Remote management · Digital tools · Organising the supply chain function · Coordination and common services · Final project: supply plan for a response
  5. Graded case study : The Mélo floods Coastal province of a fictitious country exposed to flooding and a local conflict · 40 questions including a case study · 85% to pass

Who is it for?

Logisticians, procurement, warehouse, fleet and supply chain managers, project managers and coordinators of NGOs, UN agencies and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, as well as transport and logistics professionals who want to join the humanitarian sector. Demanding level: at least two years of experience in logistics, procurement or project management is strongly recommended.

The certificate

With at least 80% in the month 1 and month 2 exams, then 85% in the final exam, you receive the Humanitarian Mini MBA diploma in your name, with a unique code recruiters can check on Humanitaires Jobs. A free Humanitarian Network account is needed to take the exams.

Key concepts

The vocabulary you need to master for this course and the exam.

Landed cost
Purchase price plus all the costs needed to bring the item to the point of use, including losses.
Total lead time
Sum of the durations of all the stages in series, from need to distribution.
AMC
Average monthly consumption, corrected for stock-out days and planned changes.
Reorder point
AMC × replenishment lead time + safety stock: the stock level that triggers an order.
Pipeline
Monthly tracking of needs, stocks, arrivals and funding to anticipate pipeline breaks.
Framework agreement
A contract awarded through competitive bidding that sets prices and lead times for successive orders.
Splitting
Dividing a single need into several orders to stay below a procedural threshold; prohibited.
Incoterm
A rule of the International Chamber of Commerce that allocates costs and risks between seller and buyer.
OTIF
Share of deliveries that arrived on time and in full.
Chargeable weight
In air freight, the higher of the actual weight and the volumetric weight (cm³ / 6,000).
Bill of lading
A sea transport document that serves as a negotiable document of title.
FEFO
First expired, first out: the issuing rule for all perishable items.
Stock turnover
Annual issues / average stock.
Customs value
Generally the CIF value: goods, insurance and freight to the border.
Wastage factor
1 / (1 − wastage rate): multiplier used to calculate the doses or quantities needed.
Third-party monitoring
Independent verification of warehouses and distributions when the organisation has no access to the area.

References and recommended reading

The official texts and sector reference works on which the course is based.

  1. Global Logistics Cluster (2024). Logistics Operational Guide (LOG). dlca.logcluster.org
  2. Global Logistics Cluster (2024). Logistics Capacity Assessments (LCA). lca.logcluster.org
  3. Sphere (2018). The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. spherestandards.org
  4. International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) (2020). Incoterms® 2020. iccwbo.org/business-solutions/incoterms-rules
  5. P. Tatham and M. Christopher (Kogan Page) (2018). Humanitarian Logistics: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing for and Responding to Disasters. www.koganpage.com
  6. World Health Organization (2020). Good Distribution Practices for Pharmaceutical Products (Annex 7, Technical Report Series 1025). www.who.int
  7. World Health Organization and partners (2017). Interagency Emergency Health Kit (IEHK). www.who.int
  8. World Health Organization (2024). Performance, Quality and Safety (PQS) – catalogue of cold chain equipment. apps.who.int/immunization_standards/vaccine_quality/pqs_catalogue
  9. World Customs Organization (2006). International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention), Specific Annex J5. www.wcoomd.org
  10. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2007). Guidelines for the Domestic Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance (IDRL Guidelines). disasterlaw.ifrc.org
  11. Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) (2013). IASC Non-Binding Guidelines on the Use of Armed Escorts for Humanitarian Convoys. interagencystandingcommittee.org
  12. United Nations Security Council (2022). Resolution 2664 (humanitarian exemption to sanctions regimes). www.un.org/securitycouncil
  13. ICRC and International Federation (2021). Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations. www.climate-charter.org
  14. ICRC and Brussels Privacy Hub (2020). Handbook on Data Protection in Humanitarian Action (2nd edition). www.icrc.org