Contributions to humanitarian and non-profit operations: Equity impacts on modeling and solution approaches

Abstract

Equity has been acknowledged as an important concern in designing and managing humanitarian and non-profit operations over the past decade. Given the significant demands for relief supplies created by a disaster and the scarcity of resources (such as supplies, vehicles, equipment), it is inevitable that some needs will be satisfied later than others, and effective prioritization is crucial. Relief organizations are faced with the challenge of finding ways to deliver resources in an equitable way to increase the chances of survival of people. These issues also emerge in the operations of non-profit organizations that allocate distribute scarce resources. Important contributions have been made by women in studying equity in humanitarian and non-profit operations, both in terms of practical insights and methodological advances. In this chapter, we review key papers written by women, which have advanced the literature in characterizing equity in humanitarian and non-profit operations and exploring the methodological implications of equity.