Feasibility Study For The Development Of A Logistics Service Offer At French Red Cross

1. General

Project

REGIONAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME – Disaster Risk Management in the South-West Indian Ocean 2024-2025

Purpose of the mission

Development of a logistics service offer for the PIROI Center

Mission location

Reunion Island

Mission Manager

Logistics Manager

Desired start date

10.04.2025

Desired end date

30.09.2025

2. Introduction

• Context of the consultancy mission

PIROI is a tool of the French Red Cross attached to the Directorate of International Operations (DOI) which has been leading a regional disaster risk management (DRM) program in the South-West Indian Ocean since 2000. As part of its program, the platform carries out actions to strengthen its member National Societies, prepare actors in the area and respond to crises, as well as reduce disaster risks by raising awareness among populations.

PIROI is composed of different members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement:

• The Comorian Red Crescent,
• The French Red Cross,
• The Malagasy Red Cross,
• The Mauritius Red Cross,
• The Mozambique Red Cross,
• The Seychelles Red Cross,
• The Tanzanian Red Cross,
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
• The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Based in Réunion, PIROI enables skills and resources to be concentrated as close as possible to vulnerable areas and thus increases responsiveness and flexibility in the face of disasters.

The 2021-2025 strategic framework of PIROI – French Red Cross includes 4 axes and a facilitating action through the construction of the PIROI Center:

1. The knowledge and skills of disaster risk management stakeholders are improved regarding risks linked to natural hazards, health crises and climate change.
2. The capacities of disaster risk management actors are strengthened in terms of risk management linked to natural hazards, health crises and climate change.
3. The populations of the South-West Indian Ocean are better informed, resilient and prepared to face risks linked to natural hazards, health crises and climate change.
4. Populations affected by disasters linked to natural hazards and health crises have access to emergency aid that meets their priority needs.

Facilitating action – construction of the PIROI Center:

Both a result of the constant evolution of PIROI’s missions and a response to the growing challenge of disaster risk management in a global context marked by climate change, PIROI has initiated the development of a regional center of expertise, training and innovation: the PIROI Center. It will help achieve its objective of reducing the impact of disasters linked to natural hazards, health crises and the effects of climate change on SIDS [1] in the South-West Indian Ocean region and more broadly to French-speaking actors.

To this end, the PIROI Center is developing the PIROI service offering, already initiated since 2017 and which will continue to expand over the coming years until the installation of the Platform in the new PIROI Center building, which will include 4 rooms dedicated to training and a field for conducting simulation exercises.

Thus, the architectural design and construction of the new building act as a lever for action and mobilization, facilitating the implementation of the 4 strategic axes.

• Project Overview

To urgently respond to the needs of the populations, the platform has equipped itself with humanitarian equipment pre-positioned in 11 warehouses spread across 5 countries. Between 2000 and 2024, PIROI has carried out nearly 70 emergency operations following cyclones, floods, epidemics and volcanic eruptions that have affected the area.

In order to anticipate these situations, PIROI and the National Societies of the South West Indian zone have set up a network of mutualizable warehouses with a total surface area of ​​nearly 3,000m². The stocks consist of essential items intended to meet the basic needs of the population. The items stored are standardized (SPHERE standard and IFRC standards) in order to meet the needs of the population. In the same spirit of anticipation, PIROI has developed several framework contracts with suppliers of Non Food Items and freight forwarders in order to better manage its supply chain (600MT transported between 2020 and 2022).

As part of its strategic planning, PIROI wishes to adapt its management of pre-positioned stocks and its intervention methods aimed at promoting low greenhouse gas emission solutions. Manufacturing methods, composition of materials and supply sources are thus better studied and reviewed to limit the environmental impact of interventions. To this end, a carbon footprint was carried out in 2021.

Thus, PIROI has a certain expertise in the field of logistics. Since 2018, actors from the humanitarian community (NGOs, UN agencies) or services from the States of the sub-region (Ministries of Health, etc.) have been calling on PIROI on an ad hoc basis, because although it is itself an operational response tool, it can share its expertise by pooling its capacities and occasionally offers logistics services to third parties located in the Indian Ocean zone, such as:

● Supply of basic necessities in stock via our warehouse network

● Sourcing of essential items not present in our stocks, through our pre-identified suppliers.

● Organization of international freight transport, through our service provider under transport commission contract.

● Storage of emergency stock items via our warehouse in Reunion.

Based on this observation, PIROI believes that there is a need among our partners to transform this one-off activity into a real desire to pool logistics capacities or even into a regional purchasing center.

With a view to the next strategic framework 2026-2030, PIROI wishes to carry out a study in order to develop a paid logistics service offering for humanitarian and civilian actors in disaster risk management in Reunion and the Indian Ocean region.

3. General and specific objectives of the consultancy mission

• General objective of the consultancy mission

Assess the feasibility of developing a logistics service offering and propose an action plan within the framework of the next strategic exercise (2026-2030).

• Specific objectives of the consultancy mission

1. Analysis of the feasibility, needs and opportunities for the development of regional logistics service activities
2. Drafting of an action plan including:
   • Identification of internal constraints (example: how to integrate an income-generating activity into the operation of the CRF’s PIROI program, how to manage invoicing and VAT according to the mapping of physical and financial flows and propose internal organizational development) and external constraints (example: pre-identification of partners, necessary central purchasing accreditation mechanisms)
   • Identify the best legal/financial framework to support this activity,
   • List the compliance of the procedures and processes in place for this activity (competition, documentation, management, etc.) with regard to the rules of the donors, the CRF and the legislation,
   • Definition of the framework, purpose and terms of the logistics service offer,
   • Strategic axes, objectives and activities enabling the development of a service offering.
3. Support for the practical implementation of the service offer

4. Methodology of the consultancy mission

The consultant is free to propose the methodology that seems appropriate and in line with the objectives and expected deliverables.

LANGUAGES :

The deliverables will be produced in French.

5. Expected results of the consultancy mission

PIROI – French Red Cross is developing a training service offering as part of its 2025-2030 financial year within the PIROI Center, aimed at institutional, private and CSO stakeholders on the themes of disaster risk management by providing itself with the appropriate HR, organizational and statutory resources.

6. Expected deliverables

> Framework report – deliverable 1 – by April 30, 2025

> Description of the methodology

> Timeline

> List of people to interview

> Suggestion of tool formats

> Identification of the strategic development challenges of the PIROI Center

> Corpus of documents / publications used in the documentary review

> Organization of steering committees (number to be defined)

> Drafting and sharing of agendas and minutes

> Final report – deliverable 2 – September 20, 2025

Full report in French, respecting the CRF graphic charter.

> Support – deliverable 3 – duration to be defined

Depending on the constraints and the strategy chosen in the preliminary study.

7. Organization of the consultancy and timetable

Throughout the process, the consultant will regularly report on the progress of his/her work to the logistics manager. Steering committees will bring together stakeholders from the various departments and could be composed of at least:

• Members of the PIROI team (Head of Delegation, logistics and financial coordinators)
• A Financial and/or Logistics Director at CRF headquarters

Depending on the agenda, other participants may be mobilized (PIROI partners, institutional partner, logistics department, head office tax specialist, etc.)

In addition, PIROI is sponsoring other strategic review consultancies during the same period. The consultant will be required to collaborate with these interlocutors in order to contribute to the discussions and coordinate the proposed strategy.

A period of 4 months is envisaged for the realization of this study. The final deliverables must be returned at the latest within 2 weeks following the end of the study.

The consultant must propose a number of man/days in his/her technical and financial proposal.

The mission timetable must be proposed in the technical offer.

8. Processing of offers

Profile of de.s consultant.es

• Autonomy and initiative
• Good analytical and synthesis skills
• Good writing skills
• Team collaboration skills
• Diplomacy and patience

Required skills and knowledge

• Expertise, knowledge and experience in humanitarian logistics and pooling
• Experience in organizational development, preferably in the commercial, import/export, entrepreneurship sector
• Good knowledge of the Indian Ocean context is an asset
• Knowledge of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an asset
• French language (very good written and oral expression required)

Administrative clauses

• The bidder agrees that his contact details will be listed in the French Red Cross Consultants Database
• The bidder must provide proof at the time of submission of the regularity of its economic activity (tax documents, registration, registration as self-employed worker – depending on the reference country where the bidder is established).
• The service provider must provide the resources necessary to carry out its service, whether material or human: plane tickets, computer, professional liability insurance, visa.
• He may delegate part of the mission, within his teams, to the employee of his choice, but he remains the sole hierarchical and disciplinary authority concerning his employees. The service provider must ensure safety, and as such insure the consultants sent on missions.

[1] Small Island Developing States