A systematic survey of multicriteria models in humanitarian logistics

Since the 1960s, there has been a five to ten-fold surge in natural disasters, leading to escalating human and financial tolls. Humanitarian Logistics (HL) emerges as a response to these calamities, driven by the profound mission of alleviating human distress. Within the context of HL modeling and optimization, Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods have become predominant due to the conflicting metrics HL professionals juggle during operations. This study endeavors to pinpoint and evaluate the prevailing trends and unexplored avenues in the domain of multicriteria optimization in HL over recent years. An exhaustive systematic survey of articles from 2015 to mid-2023 was undertaken, with findings juxtaposed against on-ground realities. Our analysis reveals several untapped areas and a consistent disconnect between academic studies and real-world challenges.