Free online courses in Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chains

By Claire Barnhoorn - On

For those I know, it doesn’t come as a surprise that I love humanitarian logistics and supply chains in humanitarian operations. It’s the backbone of all we do; however often perceived as ‘just happening.’ Given all the course lists I create, I think this one is closest to my heart. Assistance in supplies (for example, shelter, water, medicines, food, and non-food items) is crucial. Getting and moving the supplies to the right location requires humanitarian supply chain management and logistics. Humanitarian logistics and supply chains have an instrumental role and massive impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian responses. Did you know that this accounts for up to 80% of the costs of relief operations ()? Procurement activities already account for 65% of the costs of relief operations (Moshtari et al., 2021). 

Given the size and critical impact of humanitarian logistics and supply chains, there is a need for all working in the humanitarian sector to know the basics. For non-supply chain staff, make sure to definitely check out the free 90-minute course by HELP Logistics and Save the Children International, supported by Amazon:  Unlocking the Supply Chain: A Guide for Non-Supply Chain Staff.  Besides adding humanitarian logistics and supply chain courses, I added several quality general supply chain courses to the list. I am sure I still miss many resources; please send me a note so I can keep updating those with quality online courses. 

Before starting with all courses, a short 3-minute video by Save the Children shares some of the key messages on the purpose and principles of enabling effective supply chains and logistics in emergencies.

Free online courses in Humanitarian Logistics

  1. Basic Humanitarian Logistics Course by WFP – World Food Programme (3 hours)
  2. Introduction to Humanitarian Logistics by HUMLOG (Hanken University Finland) (3 hours per week – 2 weeks)
  3. Humanitarian Logistics by MIT Michigan Institute for Technology (4-8 hours per week – 9 weeks)
  4. Diploma in Humanitarian Logistics by Africa Training institute (5-6 hours per week – 24 weeks) 
  5. CHL: Humanitarian Logistics Self-Guided Practice by Fritz Institute/CILT (39 hours)
  6.  Introduction to Humanitarian Logistics by Field Programme (1 hour)
  7.  Introduction to Logistics in Emergencies by IFRC – International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (0,5 hour)
  8. The Essentials of Good Distribution Practice by HELP Logistics and Save the Children International (0,5 hour)
  9. Distribution of Relief Goods by Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation (7 minutes) 
  10. Logistics Cluster Induction online Course by LogCluster (2 hours)
  11. Practical Emergency Logistics Training (PELT) by WFP – World Food Programme (1 hour)
  12. Strategic Emergency Logistics Training (SELT) by WFP – World Food Programme (3 hours)
  13. PARCEL Logistics Standards: e-learning course by PARCEL project (2 hours)
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Online humanitarian courses with regard to humanitarian supply chain management and procurement

  1. A Step-by-Step Journey into Supply Chain Planning by HELP Logistics and Save the Children (4 hours)
  2. Unlocking the Supply Chain: A Guide for Non-Supply Chain Staff by HELP Logistics and Save the Children (1,5 hours)
  3. Embedding Sustainability into End-to-End Supply Chains by HELP Logistics and Save the Children (3,5 hours)
  4. The procurement process by Save the Children (4,5 hours)
  5. Procurement and Logistics Certificate by Mercy Corps, CILT and DisasterReady (5 hours)
  6. Warehouse management for Emergency responses by IFRC – International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
  7. Warehouse Management in Action by HELP Logistics and Save the Children (3 hours)
  8. Mastering Asset Management by HELP Logistics and Save the Children (1 hour)
  9. Online Port Operations Training by WFP – World Food Programme (4,5 hours)
  10. Introductory Importation and Customs Clearance Course by WFP – World Food Programme
  11. Logistics Cluster Information Management Induction Training by WFP – World Food Programme (1 hour)
  12. Services Provision Training by WFP – World Food Programme (2 hours)
  13. SMT – Service Mindset Training by WFP – World Food Programme (8,5 hours)

Humanitarian courses regarding Fleet and Fleet management

  1. Introduction in Fleet Management by Fleet Forum (approx 25 min)
  2. Sustainable Fleet by IFRC – International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and ICRC – the International Committee of the Red Cross (1 hour)
  3. Road Safety Online Course by WFP – World Food Programme (1 hour)

Online Free Supply Chain Management courses and certificates

  1. Supply Chain Fundamentals by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (8-12 hours per week – 13 weeks)
  2. Supply Chain Planning and Strategy by ISCEA – International Supply Chain Education Alliance (2-8 hour per week – 4 weeks)
  3. Supply Chain Management: A Decision-Making Framework by Université Catholique de Louvain (6-8 hours per week – 10 weeks)
  4. Diploma in Supply Chain Management by NPLET -National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (21 hours)
  5. Supply Chain Principles by Georgia Institute of Technology (9 hours)
  6. Supply Chain Management (short course) by Oxford Homestudy Centre
  7. An introduction to Supply Chain Management by Skill UP (3 hours)
  8. Supply Chain Management: a Learning Perspective by Kaist (18 hours)
  9. Supply chain management: Be global by Macquarie University (24 hours)
  10. Managing Supply Chain Disruption During COVID-19 by The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (10 hours)
  11. Supply Chain Design by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (8-12 hours per week – 13 weeks)
  12. System Design for Supply Chain Management and Logistics by Chalmer University of Technology (4-5 hours per week – 7 weeks)
  13. Introduction To Supply Chain Design by NPLET -National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (4 hours)
  14. The Digital Economy: Effective Supply Chain Management by the Open University (12 hours)
  15. Supply Chain Management Tools and Techniques by ISCEA – International Supply Chain Education Alliance (2-8 hour per week – 4 weeks)
  16. Supply Chain Dynamics by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (8-12 hours per week – 13 weeks)
  17. Supply Chain Technology and Systems by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (8-12 hours per week – 13 weeks)
  18. Supply Chain Innovation: How Technology Can Create a Sustainable Future by Twente University (18 hours)
  19. Sustainable Supply Chain Operations and Technology by ISCEA – International Supply Chain Education Alliance (2-8 hour per week – 4 weeks)
  20. Procurement and Logistics Management by ISCEA – International Supply Chain Education Alliance (2-8 hour per week – 4 weeks)
  21. Global Procurement and Sourcing Specialization by Rutgers the State University of New Jersey (38 hours)
  22. Sustainable Supply Chain Planning, Sourcing, and Procurement by ISCEA – International Supply Chain Education Alliance (2-8 hour per week – 4 weeks)
  23. Sustainable Supply Chains and Circularity by ISCEA – International Supply Chain Education Alliance (2-8 hour per week – 4 weeks)
  24. Supply Chain Logistics by Rutgers the State University of New Jersey (8 hours)
  25. Supply Chain Operations by Rutgers the State University of New Jersey (12 hours)
  26. Supply Chain Planning by Rutgers the State University of New Jersey (14 hours)
  27. Supply Chain Sourcing by Rutgers the State University of New Jersey (12 hours)
  28. Supply Chain Excellence by Rutgers the State University of New Jersey (13 hours)
  29. Warehouse Management: Principles, Trends and Processes by CourseFlix (4 hours)
  30. Warehousing & Material Handling by Oxford Homestudy Centre 

Free online Courses in Supply Chain Analytics, Demand and Forecasting

  1. Demand Management in a Demand Driven Supply Chain by ISCEA – International Supply Chain Education Alliance (2-8 hour per week – 4 weeks)
  2. Improving Supply Chain Performance through Demand Planning by ISCEA – International Supply Chain Education Alliance (2-8 hour per week – 4 weeks)
  3. Forecasting Techniques for Slow and Rapidly Changing Demand by ISCEA – International Supply Chain Education Alliance (2-8 hour per week – 4 weeks)
  4. Supply Chain Analytics Essentials by Rutgers University (9 hours)
  5. Supply Chain Analytics by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (8-12 hours per week – 15 weeks)
  6. Business Intelligence and Competitive Analysis by Rutgers University (10 hours)
  7. Demand Analytics by Rutgers University (9 hours)
  8. Inventory Analytics by Rutgers University (10 hours)’
  9. Supply Chain Analytics by Rutgers University (9 hours)

This post is constantly updated, with new courses becoming available in humanitarian logistics and humanitarian supply chain management. If you know about a course not yet listed, please let me know, and I will add it. Also, if you encounter any broken links, I would be grateful if you could inform me to keep this post valuable for all of us globally.