Challenges to mobilising resources for disaster recovery and reconstruction: perspectives of the Haitian diaspora

Diasporas and diaspora non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) are increasingly important as resource lifelines to their home countries, yet the resources that they mobilise, the types of challenges that they face, and their coping mechanisms are not well explored or understood in the context of disaster recovery. To fill this knowledge gap, this study employed an inductive qualitative methodological approach, using interviews to comprehend the role played by Haitian diaspora NGOs after the catastrophic earthquake in 2010. It found that resources take four common forms: event fundraisers; financial and material donations from supporters; remittances; and volunteer labour. Challenges include an overreliance on diaspora donors, competition among NGOs, and what is perceived as inequitable funding practices towards diaspora NGOs. The findings provide insights centred on better coordination among diaspora NGOs, as well as between diaspora NGOs and other local and international NGOs and local governments and international institutions, to ensure more efficient delivery of services to survivors.     

The Syrian refugee crisis: how local governments and NGOs manage their image via social media

This study, based on situational crisis communication theory and set in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis, seeks first to conduct a comparative analysis of the management of online citizen engagement by local governments and non‐governmental organisations (NGOs). Second, it aims to examine the relationship between certain factors pertaining to the types of responses submitted by citizens via the social media of the aforementioned actors. The sample is composed of several Spanish local governments and NGOs belonging to Red de Municipios de Acogida de Refugiados (Local Government Network for Refugee Allocation). The main findings are that NGOs' online engagement with citizens is more than that of local governments. Notably, NGOs are much more active on their Facebook pages than are local governments. The two actors converge, though, in terms of disseminating instructive information and paying less attention to ‘basic crisis response options’. Moreover, the factors ‘content type’, ‘reputation’, and ‘woman’ affect the type of response messages sent by citizens.     

Dividing disasters in Aceh, Indonesia: separatist conflict and tsunami, human rights and humanitarianism

This paper examines the interface between human rights and humanitarian action in the context of the conflict and tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, between 1998 and 2007. It looks at the challenges international humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) faced as they engaged in human rights work in the conflict period and in conflict-related activities in the post-tsunami period. The paper argues that many large NGOs may have compromised what some would hold to be essential principles for humanitarian action because of domestic political concerns, donor restrictions and resistance among certain NGO chiefs. In contrast with the pre-tsunami period, in which NGOs worked for years amid military operations, in the post-tsunami period NGOs were decidedly apolitical, neglecting the conflict in their tsunami response--despite significant developments that permitted greater political engagement in Aceh's post-conflict transformation. The evidence suggests that NGOs are challenged in contextualising humanitarian responses and that there is a need to underscore donor flexibility and independence in humanitarian action.     

NGO collaboration in community post‐disaster reconstruction: field research following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China

The number of communities affected by disasters has been rising. As a result, non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) that attend community post‐disaster reconstruction are often unable to deliver all requirements and have to develop cooperative approaches. However, this collaboration can cause problems because of the complex environments, the fight for limited resources and uncoordinated management, all of which result in poor service delivery to the communities, adding to their woes. From extensive field research and case studies conducted in the post‐Wenchuan earthquake‐stricken communities, this paper introduces an integrated collaboration framework for community post‐disaster reconstruction with the focus on three types of NGOs: international, government organised and civil. The proposed collaboration framework examines the three interrelated components of organisational structure, operational processes and reconstruction goals/implementation areas. Of great significance in better promoting collaborative participation between NGOs are the crucial concepts of participatory reconstruction, double‐layer collaborative networks, and circular review and revision.     

The orientation of disaster donations: differences in the global response to five major earthquakes

This study analyses the influence of gift giving, geographical location, political regime, and trade openness on disaster donation decisions, using five severe earthquakes that occurred between 2008 and 2012 as case studies. The results show that global disaster donation is not dominated by only philanthropy or trade interests, and that the determinants of donation decisions vary with the scale of the natural disaster and the characteristics of the disaster‐affected countries. While gift giving exists in the case of middle‐size earthquakes, political regimes play a very important part in the overall donation process. Countries with higher perceived corruption may donate more frequently, but those that are more democratic may be more generous in their donations. Generosity based on geographical proximity to the calamity is significant in the decision‐making process for most natural disasters, yet it may have a negative effect on donations in Latin America and the Caribbean.     

Enhancing community-based disaster preparedness with information technology

A critical component of community-based disaster preparedness (CBDP) is a local resource database of suppliers providing physical, information and human resources for use in disaster response. Maintenance of such a database can become a collaborative responsibility among community-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and public and private community organisations. In addition to mobilising resources, this process raises awareness within the community and aids in assessing local knowledge and resources. This paper presents the results of a pilot study on implementing a community-based resource database through collaboration with local American Red Cross chapters and public and private community organisations. The design of the resource database is described. The resource database is accessible via the internet and offline using laptops and handheld Personal Digital Assistants. The study concludes that CBDP is strengthened through a combination of appropriate information technology and collaborative relationships between NGOs and community-based organisations.     

Of timelines and timeliness: lessons from Typhoon Haiyan in early disaster response

Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on 8 November 2013 with maximum sustained winds of 235 kilometres per hour, adversely affecting at least 11 million people and displacing some 673,000 in the central regions of the country. The disaster clearly overwhelmed the Philippine government despite its seemingly well‐crafted disaster management plan. Using timelines of different organisations, this paper identifies gaps in the government's response, mainly due to its failure in coordinating and managing relief operations, which adversely affected its effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of critical goods and services following the disaster. The paper also demonstrates how non‐governmental organisations (NGOs), the United Nations, foreign governments and other organisations provided assistance, mainly through aid niching, to cover the government's shortcomings. The paper recommends a paradigm shift in the government's disaster response by integrating collaborative arrangements between government agencies and NGOs, and giving local governments the lead role, with the national government as support, in disaster planning and response.     

Sources of organisational resiliency during the Thailand floods of 2011: a test of the bonding and bridging hypotheses

Based on the Institutional Collective Action framework, this research tests the impact of two competing hypotheses—bonding and bridging—on enhancing organisational resiliency. The bonding hypothesis posits that organisational resiliency can be achieved if an organisation works closely with others, whereas the bridging hypothesis argues that such a structure places considerable stress on an organisation and advocates for an organisation to position itself as a central actor to gain access to novel resources from a diverse set of entities to achieve resiliency. The paper analyses data gathered from semi‐structured interviews with 44 public, private, and non‐profit organisations serving communities affected by the Great Floods of 2011 in the Thai capital, Bangkok (urban), and in Pathum Thani (suburban) and Ayutthaya (rural) provinces. The findings suggest that: organisational resiliency was associated with the bridging effect; organisations in the rural province were more resilient than those in the suburban and urban centres; and private and non‐governmental organisations generally were more resilient than public sector organisations. The findings highlight the importance of fostering multi‐sector partnerships to enhance organisational resiliency for disaster response.     

Civil society and the state: Turkey after the earthquake

On 17 August 1999 Turkey was hit by a massive earthquake. Over 17,000 lives were lost and there was extensive damage to Turkey's heartland. This paper examines how various public and private institutions, including state and civil society institutions such as NGOs and the media responded to the needs of earthquake survivors. It documents the extensive involvement of NGOs in the relief efforts immediately after the disaster and examines the impact of such participation on state-civil society relations in the country. The data show that state response to the disaster went through several phases from a period of ineptitude to effective management. The paper credits the media and the NGOs for acting as advocates for survivors and forcing changes at the state level. The paper argues that an ideal response system, which fully addresses the needs of victims, can only be based on state-civil society relations that are both collaborative and adversarial.     

The futility of rights‐based humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories

A rights‐based approach (RBA) to humanitarian aid is intrinsic to Norwegian policy and should inform Norwegian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, one of the main receivers of Norwegian aid. However, this is the case only to a limited extent. While Norwegian humanitarian non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) take RBA seriously, and design their projects in accordance with its principles, they are unable to pursue a programme of long‐term structural change. This is because the main duty‐bearer, Israel, is indifferent or hostile to their work, while Norway's foreign policy is given higher priority than following through a rights‐based agenda. The result of this situation is a large, long‐standing aid effort that is unable to provide more than temporary relief in a steadily deteriorating situation. The Palestinian case suggests that RBA in humanitarianism may lead to frustration rather than human liberation when not backed up by political power.     

International NGOs and the role of network centrality in humanitarian aid operations: a case study of coordination during the 2000 Mozambique floods

In February 2000, Mozambique suffered its worst flooding in almost 50 years: 699 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced. Over 49 countries and 30 international non-governmental organisations provided humanitarian assistance. Coordination of disaster assistance is critical for effective humanitarian aid operations, but limited attention has been directed toward evaluating the system-wide structure of inter-organisational coordination during humanitarian operations. Network analysis methods were used to examine the structure of inter-organisational relations among 65 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in the flood operations in Mozambique. Centrality scores were used to estimate NGO-specific potential for aid coordination and tested against NGO beneficiary numbers. The average number of relief- and recovery-period beneficiaries was significantly greater for NGOs with high relative to low centrality scores (p < 0.05). This report addresses the significance of these findings in the context of the Mozambican 2000 floods and the type of data required to evaluate system-wide coordination.     

Action-oriented resilience assessment of communities in Chennai,India

Building resilience to disasters is indispensable in cities, like Chennai, India, which are challenged by emerging urban disaster risks caused by impacts of urbanization and higher probability of future disasters due to climate change. In this paper, an action-oriented resilience assessment (AoRA), consisting of 63 actions, divided into 21 parameters and 5 dimensions (physical, social, economic, institutional and natural), is defined which has the objective to enhance the resilience of communities of Chennai to climate-related disasters. On the basis of responses from the selected target group, community leaders (councillors) in the 155 wards, the local government of Chennai is the key stakeholder to implement the proposed actions in the AoRA. However, further findings underpin that a multi-stakeholder approach, involving communities, academia, private organizations and NGOs, is needed to create disaster resilient communities.     

Insiders and outsiders: local government and NGO engagement in disaster response in Guimaras,Philippines

This paper examines local government and non‐governmental organisation (NGO) engagement in disaster response in the wake of the M/T Solar 1 oil spill in Guimaras, Western Visayas, Philippines, on 11 August 2006. It assesses the response activities of these two entities as well as the institutional factors that affected their interaction on the ground. Local government and NGO engagement was shaped by multi‐layered, overlapping, and oftentimes contending government‐designed response frameworks. Within these frameworks, government actors played the role of primary implementer and provider of relief, allowing them to determine who could be involved and the extent of their involvement. The absence of formal roles for NGOs in these frameworks not only undermines their ability to work in a setting where such institutional set‐ups are operational but also it reaffirms their ‘outsider’ status. This study of the Guimaras oil spill illustrates the complexity and the institutional difficulties inherent in disaster response and coordination in the Philippines.     

Governing sexual behaviour through humanitarian codes of conduct

Since 2001, there has been a growing consensus that sexual exploitation and abuse of intended beneficiaries by humanitarian workers is a real and widespread problem that requires governance. Codes of conduct have been promoted as a key mechanism for governing the sexual behaviour of humanitarian workers and, ultimately, preventing sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA). This article presents a systematic study of PSEA codes of conduct adopted by humanitarian non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) and how they govern the sexual behaviour of humanitarian workers. It draws on Foucault's analytics of governance and speech act theory to examine the findings of a survey of references to codes of conduct made on the websites of 100 humanitarian NGOs, and to analyse some features of the organisation‐specific PSEA codes identified.     

Variations in public and private employees’ perceptions of organizational preparedness for natural disasters

Studies have demonstrated that public and private organizations differ in many respects (e.g. funding mechanisms and risk-taking capabilities). Based on this scholarship, we expect to see differences in their disaster preparedness levels. Hence, we propose the following research question: Are there variations in public and private employees’ perceptions of organizational preparedness for natural disasters? We answer this question by employing the theories of publicness and social identity. We define publicness through the core approach arguing that public and private organizations are uniquely different based on their legal status or ownership and social identity as an individual’s feeling of oneness or belongingness to a particular group or organization. Using data gathered in 2014 from a nationally representative sample of 1634 public and private employees in the United States, we posit that employees of private organizations will report higher preparedness levels in comparison to employees of public organizations. Our proposition is based on scholarship that found a negative relationship between publicness and organizational identification and a positive relationship between organizational identification and organizational performance. Contrary to our proposition, but in line with the disaster literature, the results showed that in general, employees of public organizations reported a higher preparedness level than employees of private organizations.     

Humanitarian Crises: What Determines the Level of Emergency Assistance? Media Coverage,Donor Interests and the Aid Business

This paper proposes a basic hypothesis that the volume of emergency assistance any humanitarian crisis attracts is determined by three main factors working either in conjunction or individually. First, it depends on the intensity of media coverage. Second, it depends on the degree of political interest, particularly related to security, that donor governments have in a particular region. Third, the volume of emergency aid depends on strength of humanitarian NGOs and international organisations present in a specific country experiencing a humanitarian emergency. The empirical analysis of a number of emergency situations is carried out based on material that has never been published before. The paper concludes that only occasionally do the media play a decisive role in influencing donors. Rather, the security interests of Western donors are important together with the presence and strength of humanitarian stakeholders, such as NGOs and international organisations lobbying donor governments.     

Living with disasters: social capital for disaster governance

This paper explores how social networks and bonds within and across organisations shape disaster operations and strategies. Local government disaster training exercises serve as a window through which to view these relations, and ‘social capital’ is used as an analytic for making sense of the human relations at the core of disaster management operations. These elements help to expose and substantiate the often intangible relations that compose the culture that exists, and that is shaped by preparations for disasters. The study reveals how this social capital has been generated through personal interactions, which are shared among disaster managers across different organisations and across ‘levels’ within those organisations. Recognition of these ‘group resources’ has significant implications for disaster management in which conducive social relations have become paramount. The paper concludes that socio‐cultural relations, as well as a people‐centred approach to preparations, appear to be effective means of readying for, and ultimately responding to, disasters.     

Disaster safety nets for developing countries: Extending public–private partnerships

In developed countries, public–private partnerships involving insurance companies and governments often provide security against the human and economic losses of disasters. These partnerships, however, are neither available nor affordable in most highly exposed developing countries. In this paper we examine recent innovations in financial risk management that extend traditional public–private partnerships to include NGOs, international financial institutions and other donors. Importantly, these partnerships provide secure financial arrangements to low-income communities before disasters strike and thus relieve the uncertainty and anxiety of depending on ad hoc post-disaster aid for recovery and even survival. We examine three examples of extended partnerships: the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool; the Andhra Pradesh microinsurance program and an index-based weather derivative for farmers facing drought in Malawi.     

Disaster safety nets for developing countries: Extending public—private partnerships

In developed countries, public—private partnerships involving insurance companies and governments often provide security against the human and economic losses of disasters. These partnerships, however, are neither available nor affordable in most highly exposed developing countries. In this paper we examine recent innovations in financial risk management that extend traditional public—private partnerships to include NGOs, international financial institutions and other donors. Importantly, these partnerships provide secure financial arrangements to low-income communities before disasters strike and thus relieve the uncertainty and anxiety of depending on ad hoc post-disaster aid for recovery and even survival. We examine three examples of extended partnerships: the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool; the Andhra Pradesh microinsurance program and an index-based weather derivative for farmers facing drought in Malawi.     

Household self‐blame for disasters: responsibilisation and (un)accountability in decentralised participatory risk governance

The most important theoretical argument concerning decentralised participatory governance is that it can make a government more accountable for the needs of the governed. Key to this process are participatory spaces that act as mechanisms for dialogue between citizens and local government. However, within Cochabamba, a city in the centre of Bolivia, South America, ‘at‐risk’ citizens engage minimally with disaster risk issues in participatory spaces, despite high levels of civic participation. This is because ‘at‐risk’ populations view disasters as a private/household problem that is symptomatic of household error, rather than seeing them as a broader public problem due to wider structural inequalities. Consequently, they redistribute responsibility for disaster risk reduction towards households, which (re)produces the absolution of government authorities as guarantors of disaster risk reduction. This paper challenges the normative assumption that participatory spaces facilitate democratic deliberation of disaster risk reduction and the downward accountability of local government for disaster risk reduction.