Information Management in Disaster and Humanitarian Response: A Case in United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ()
1. Introduction
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) brings humanitarian responders together to ensure a coherent disaster response. Despite many efforts to provide precise and real-time data to disaster and humanitarian responders, the OCHA office’s information management remains a problem [1] . In 2017, natural disasters caused a global economic loss of 306 billion US dollars, much higher than the annual average emergency cost of 190 billion US dollars [2] . The general business problem is the lack of precise and up-to-date information management strategies, which leads to late and ineffective disaster and humanitarian responses. The specific business problem is inappropriate communication strategies when relaying emergency information. The study will address the problem of information management that hinders practical humanitarian response activities. In particular, this study will determine the role of the OCHA during a disaster and humanitarian response. The study will generally help achieve effectiveness in information management regarding disaster control to enable quick and informed humanitarian response.
The problem is researchable because many articles and journals try to solve the problem of information management in humanitarian response activities. Disasters occur regularly everywhere in the globe. Every year, the world experiences different types of disasters, including floods, hurricanes, house collapses, mudslides, landslides, earthquakes, and drought [3] . According to the United Nations’ global strategy for disaster recovery, disasters cause death and economic and environmental losses [4] . Information plays a central role in helping disaster responders rescue affected people. Humanitarian organizations require information regarding a disaster to help casualties cope with life after adversity. Therefore, data collection is critical before, during, and after disaster response interventions.
Data collection ensures effective disaster response and humanitarian activities. Some disasters like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, landslides, and mudslides are inevitable and inflict suffering on affected people [4] . Depending on such disasters’ magnitude, affected individuals require external aid to cope with life after a disaster occurrence. Governments worldwide set up guidelines, procedures, and practices to manage disasters and offset their effects on humankind. According to Meesters et al. (2019) [5] , the United Nations’ global strategy for disaster management approaches emergencies in two ways; disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management.
The disaster risk reduction strategy involves elements that encourage sustainable development to mitigate community exposure to adversity. It comprises measures to regulate and avoid the detrimental effects of disasters [5] . On the other hand, disaster risk management describes the process that utilizes administrative decisions to formulate and execute strategies, policies, procedures, and capacities to help society cope and control the effect of emergencies and disasters. According to Sakurai and Murayama (2019), [6] disaster management involves preparedness, risk minimization, prevention, response, and recovery. They found no holistic use of information technology in all phases of disaster management. In particular, information systems play the role of recording, processing, and exchanging information.
Disaster mitigation involves activities to minimize the possibilities of the risk occurring or a threat magnifying into a disaster. Preparedness involves plans to save property and lives in a catastrophe while preventing measures to avoid emergencies [1] . Disaster response involves humanitarian organizations’ activities to protect property and lives after a disaster. The response part of disaster management requires action plans followed by disaster responders to help affected individuals. Recovery comprises measures taken by humanitarian groups to help communities cope with life after a disaster and return to the usual way of life. Literature pays very little attention to information management.
The current study will have practical and theoretical implications. For practical implications, disaster responders and humanitarian groups will use the study results to manage disaster information effectively to achieve a quick and effective emergency response. The study will provide better strategies for humanitarian organizations like the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to manage disaster information efficiently and effectively.
For instance, disaster and humanitarian responders would use the study results to integrate technology with strategies to manage emergency information effectively. In addition, humanitarian responders would use the current study to improve and expand previously used information management systems in disaster response. Further, communities and people living in areas exposed to disasters like earthquakes and flood zones would use the study results to understand the need to provide humanitarian responders with relevant information when disasters occur or when it becomes evident that an emergency will occur. The study will fill gaps in the existing literature for theoretical implications by providing the best strategies to manage disaster-related information. Also, the study will provide suggestions for further research to fill gaps left by the researcher.
2. Methodology
This study intends to use qualitative research methodology to answer questions by enabling a deeper understanding of context, phenomena, and experiences [7] . Participants of the study will involve employees of humanitarian organizations and OCHA staff, and these participants best fit this study because they understand and have experience in a humanitarian context. The researcher will use a random sampling technique to select the study participants. According to Joseph et al. (2020) [8] , the random sampling technique is appropriate because it avoids biases in selecting study participants by giving each participant an equal chance of participating.
Data collection will involve using online questionnaires with closed- and open-ended questions. The study will employ narrative analysis to analyze data from respondents. The study will utilize primary and secondary data; online questionnaires will collect preliminary data. On the other hand, professional and scholarly articles and journals will provide secondary data to support the study. Validity for instrumentation regards the authenticity of the study questionnaires [8] . The researcher will determine the questionnaire’s validity using face and content validities. On the other hand, instrumentation reliability relates to how the instruments generate the same results consistently in similar scenarios. In other words, it addresses whether the study results can be repeated.
This study aims to answer questions via qualitative research methods, which allows for a better knowledge of background, occurrences, and perspectives. Employees of human rights organizations and OCHA workers will participate in the research. These volunteers are the ideal match for this study since they comprehend and have expertise in the humanitarian environment. The researcher will choose the study participants using a random sample approach. According to Joseph et al. (2020) [9] , a sample selection approach is an ideal tool since it minimizes bias in research subject selection by offering each respondent an equal opportunity to participate in the study. The difference between systematic sampling techniques and sampling styles must be understood. The reliable statistical strategy employed to get at a population approximation is sampling type. The technique recordings are picked from a demographic for admission in a selection is referred to as the sample selection procedure.
It will be a case in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). This research aims to figure out what function the OCHA plays during a catastrophe or humanitarian response. The study will improve catastrophe data management, allowing for a faster and more informed international humanitarian. However, conducting an in-depth interview with prospective residents in the segment is a smart way to determine why most are poor. As a result, qualitative research techniques enable in-depth and follow-up examination and questioning of participants reflecting on their replies. The interviewer also attempts to comprehend their purpose and emotions. Therefore, recognizing how your target audience makes decisions might aid business study results.
The type of research project that I intend to conduct is descriptive research. Descriptive research is a study designed to characterize a population’s attributes. Nonetheless, descriptive research does not provide answers to questions like why a phenomenon occurs or what causes it. The best method to overcome such problems is to do regulated and quasi-experimental research. In a descriptive questionnaire survey, questionnaires are used to collect data on various topics. This data aims to assess the magnitude to which these people can achieve different circumstances. For instance, this research project would help me answer the research questions.
Many things must be done to improve humanitarian organizations’ response when a disaster occurs. Mobilizing collaboration is one of the essential potentials in the humanitarian context. We may form unusual coalitions and collaborations by pulling together well-positioned players and opinion-makers through practical support. Many agencies successfully combat global warming or assist thousands of refugees, and their standard procedures should be disseminated more widely. For example, the program What Design Can Do demonstrates how to involve specialized organizations, such as engineers, in applying their technical talents and innovative thinking to complicated concerns like global warming.
This research project discusses the role of OCHA during a disaster and humanitarian response. This study intends to use qualitative research methodology to answer questions such as the strategies used by successful humanitarian organizations to respond to disasters to save lives and reduce property destruction. It also tends to answer what is required to be accomplished to enhance charitable institutions’ reaction when a disaster occurs, and any new measures that can be implemented to avoid loss of life during catastrophes. As a result, this study aims to fill in the spaces in the current research by addressing the communication management problems that humanitarian organizations confront during interventions.
This research will focus on the most vulnerable, especially women and children. The research focuses on these groups because they require the community’s most special attention and assistance. As a result, protecting these people is a critical component of humanitarian assistance. A humanitarian aggressively promotes human welfare and social changes and is not prejudiced against those suffering because of their gender identity, religious beliefs, or country affiliations. As discussed before, the purpose of a humanitarian is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and preserve human dignity. However, in this research, a group of women and children will be sampled, and data will be collected to determine how they will be assisted in the event of a disaster.
The eligible participants to be included in this research are women and children. The research will also include people from rural areas who need support and rescue in times of disaster. It is well known that the objective of OCHA is to manage worldwide rescue efforts to save lives and protect the population in humanitarian situations. As a result, the research will be focused on the most vulnerable and marginalized members of society. Furthermore, OCHA promotes competent and moral humanitarian assistance for everyone. OCHA offers comprehensive advisory services to the development sector to help them respond quickly, effectively, and ethically. Relevant evidence is collected, shared, and used to support collaboration, decision-making, and engagement. The participants will provide data for the study in various methods, including focus groups, surveys, interviews, direct observation, experiments, and personal health records. Most studies consider respondents to be individuals and groups that consent to participate in a study procedure. In this research, interviews and experiments will be conducted with the participants chosen to provide an effective outcome and findings [10] .
The research was conducted, and a series of interviews and questionnaires were distributed to the specific group of persons who participated in the study. This study’s goal was to understand better OCHA’s involvement in disaster management and how many individuals benefit from the assistance provided by this organization. As a result, the sample of persons questioned comprised disadvantaged and marginalized members of society, as the purpose of this research was to better understand the role of OCHA.
Since all participants will be prepared to respond to the study, the data obtained will be acceptable in addressing the questions in this study. Data are adequate for quality management objectives if relevant to the research planned goal and applicable to the examined framework. Information gathering is a deliberate approach to gathering data. Whether doing an investigation for financial, governmental, or academic purposes, data collection assists the researcher in obtaining first-hand knowledge and distinctive viewpoints on the study issue. When data is grouped into categories depending on conditions, it provides information. Data is raw information examined or organized to deliver specified outcomes. Data becomes intelligible and valuable when it is translated into understanding. However, this research will answer the research questions by gathering qualitative information. While practical information, supposition, or conceptual observations may give incontrovertible proof, early intervention predicated on an inaccurate assumption may waste energy.
· Questionnaires. The research will use questionnaires to collect data from the respondents before proceeding to the next step. A questionnaire is a means of collecting ordered factual information. It often comprises a series of comprehensive inquiries that respondents must answer. The respondents are supposed to answer the questions honestly since they will be open-ended. A well-designed questionnaire will encourage participants to offer correct and comprehensive details; as a result, it should yield reliable and meaningful results.
· Surveys. This research will survey to collect information from a targeted group of people. On the other hand, researchers may quickly accumulate a large amount of data using surveys. Moreover, complementary data collection techniques are often more expensive than questionnaires. As a consequence, surveys may be easily created and carried out.
· Interviews. The researcher will conduct interviews based on the number of people present and ready for the research. The interview will take not less than 5 minutes for each respondent since accurate data is needed for the analysis. As a result, interviews are essential in any research because they give researchers a better understanding of all the information and the study’s relevance. Furthermore, most interview questions are open-ended, allowing for detailed data collection.
3. Discussion
The most crucial part of every research is data analysis. The knowledge gained is highlighted throughout the data collection stage. The analysis procedure is systematic and analytical thinking to uncover linkages, relationships, and patterns among information. Research technique is crucial for clarifying problems and analyzing data in the corporate sector. On the other hand, data analysis transforms data into useful information by analyzing, structuring, and exhibiting it. While statistical methods can be employed in qualitative research, data analysis is often an ongoing cycle in which data is collected and analyzed almost simultaneously. [11]
Triangulation is a descriptive research strategy that combines information from numerous sources to demonstrate authenticity. Also, triangulation is an attempt to examine and portray complex human conduct using a variety of approaches to give viewers a more objective viewpoint. Finally, it is an input validation technique in formative and summative assessments. Scholars can benefit from triangulation since it provides various information to understand diverse aspects of events. Triangulation may also be used to refute scenarios when one dataset refutes a claim produced by another. Furthermore, when one line of study complements another, it might aid in theory validation.
Reliability and validity are essential factors to explore when selecting data collection instruments. The term “reliability” refers to a material’s propensity to generate reliable results throughout time. On the other hand, validity refers to the extent to which it the meant to analyze what it was designed to measure. The reliability and validity of project findings depend on creating a sound study methodology, selecting proper techniques and populations, and the meticulous and regular execution of the study. Managing additional characteristics, upgrading measuring procedures, boosting random sampling to avoid sampling error, and concealing the research are all approaches to improve the validity of an investigation.
Since they are essential to implement and performing the investigation, assumptions are an integral component of ideas. There are frequent preconceptions in a proposed study that are essential for the research but cannot be confirmed. For example, in this research, the respondents will be honest and factual in their responses throughout the survey. The study presumes honest answers since validating each participant’s replies would take a long and energy. Consequently, we may have a shared perception about a phenomenon among the participants in the research yet be unwilling to verify it. The investigation resorts to referring to information with a source reference rather than assuming it if there is proof to substantiate the assumption. Alternatively, the study can only guess what the researchers cannot prove but must speculate about the analysis.
However, it is insufficient to presume what cannot be verified. There is a need to demonstrate that each assumption will most likely be satisfied and correct; alternatively, the research would be useless. For example, suppose the researcher anticipates that participants reply honestly. In that case, he may highlight how their names will be hidden. Their privacy will be protected guaranteeing research respondents that their replies will be kept private and confidential increases the likelihood of commenting truthfully. The survey’s coverage relates to the constraints within which it will operate and what it will address, and it is directly linked to the situation’s conceptualization [12] .
Choices on approach and study design might lead to limits. Each research design option and approach has its series of limits. These restrictions limit the breadth of the study and can influence the findings and conclusions drawn. Every study has its own set of limitations. Possibly the research only looked at a particular group of people, or the link between the factors was only looked at in a specific context. As a result, it is possible that the explanatory conclusions will not apply to different persons or conditions.
Reliability and dependability are two limitations connected with qualitative research. First, it is incredibly challenging to duplicate research since qualitative research occurs naturally [13] . The researcher acknowledges intrinsic limits over which he may have little command when choosing particular approaches and concepts, such as introspection. The representativeness of a study’s findings is never guaranteed. A real-world example examines the behavior of one individual, a team, or an enterprise. The behavior of this one theoretical framework for this study may or may not reflect the behavior of essential consideration. Although research studies might provide insight into what might be discovered in comparable organizations, further research is needed to establish whether one research can apply to others. This is one rationale why case studies are often employed to solve issues that are not well known. There’s a necessity for a qualitative, exploratory approach to comprehend the challenge, which may then feed statistical, formal research, and possibly descriptive outcomes.
Experiments become more rigorous when they account for impacts other than the variables of interest. Nevertheless, there may be limits in terms of the results generalizability. The research may have only included a small number of participants, certain conditions, and a subset of conceivable variable conceptual frameworks. As a result, we may not predict whether the outcomes would apply to other persons, circumstances, or inconsistent theoretical frameworks. Main results from observational research may be used to infer a generic cause within certain limitations, but the inclusion of other unquantified factors might restrict the breadth of such inference. The approach used has limits in terms of factors like comprehensiveness. The method and interpretation of data might be influenced by selection bias. If the researcher has a lot of knowledge of the subject, it is crucial to let people know about it and demonstrate how to eliminate prejudice. Generalizability is impossible when the representative sample is tiny. The instrument’s reliability and usability restrict the data gathered using standardized measures.
Research delimitations are the characteristics that result from limits in the area of the project, defining the boundaries and purposeful restrictive choices made throughout the research project preparation. Unlike restrictions from the researcher’s decisions, delimitations result from straightforward techniques and concept features. The selection of findings and conclusions, the relevant variables, the theoretical frameworks, the methodology, and the respondents are only a few.
The choosing of the issue is the initial delimiting stage, meaning that other similar problems may have been picked but were rejected or filtered out of view. To clarify the study’s boundaries, the researcher should go through each option they had to make when pulling it together. However, the researcher should indicate the research’s goal in the executive summary. They can repeat this remark in the delimitations section and a statement of what the study is not meant to cover. In the latter situation, judgments to exclude specific activities are likely founded on factors such as not being highly applicable, being too difficult because it is impossible, and so on [14] .
According to the questionnaire and interview responses, respondents were willing to participate in the research by answering questions based on their knowledge and awareness of disaster management and humanitarian response. However, most respondents are unaware of when a crisis may occur, which is extremely risky. OCHA and other United Nations organizations are responsible for ensuring that populations are safe and informed of when disasters may happen. The vast majority of respondents agreed that disasters might be avoided. Some people have received training, while others have not, sending a signal to the humanitarian department to send trainers to educate people on the importance of being prepared for natural disasters. In summary, the data collected shows that most people are unaware of disaster management in humanitarian response.
This chapter discussed existing literature on disaster and humanitarian response information management within the past five years. The researcher reviewed journals, research papers, and articles related to disaster/humanitarian response information management. In particular, the researcher provided a literature-based description of the research problem: the lack of precise and up-to-date information management strategies, leading to late and ineffective disaster and humanitarian response. Also, the researcher reviewed the literature on the problem of inappropriate communication strategies when relaying emergency information.
The researcher also reviewed previous research and findings relating to disaster and humanitarian response information management. Most of the existing focused on using technological tools to manage emergency information. The results show that disaster information collection, analysis, sharing, and storage effectively use technologies like big data analytics, hybrid indexing, artificial intelligence, raw data storage technology, machine learning, and the internet of things (IoT). Also, most previous research findings focused on the need for disaster stakeholders, government and non-government organizations, to collaborate in managing disaster information needed for disaster response operations.
Further, the researcher described concepts and theories that underpin information management in disaster/humanitarian response. The concepts included information management, management information systems (MIS), information sharing, and disaster/emergency response. The theories include social systems theory, which sees society as a complex arrangement of elements with central communication, and empowerment theory, which suggests creating environments that provide people with access to resources, information, support, and opportunity to learn and develop to promote empowerment. The collation of data sources is central to mandate in disaster and humanitarian response information management.
Articles in logistics, disaster management, and economics were evaluated, keywords were discovered within a disaster management lifespan model, and the papers were lexically analyzed. According to the report, the previous study has focused chiefly on humanitarian missions, with experts applying known supply chain approaches to better global disaster response. While this has aided humanitarian groups in responding to catastrophes more efficiently, it also highlights that little study has been conducted on social growth, an overlooked aspect of humanitarian interventions. Therefore, this study implies that future research should concentrate on humanitarian development in mitigating future social and economic loss of life and property.
However, the results mean that some research has to be conducted with a different group of people in the future to come out with the best outcome. Various humanitarian agencies and activities have been the subject of studies that have uncovered critical lessons about their execution, outcomes, and more significant societal effects. Based on the data collected from focus groups, it seems most respondents are aware of the role of OCHA in humanitarian response. The respondents understood the research’s importance and were willing to give their responses accordingly.
The United Nations Secretariat’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) puts together humanitarian actors to guarantee a coordinated response to catastrophes. OCHA also ensures that each player works within a context that allows them to add to the broader disaster event. The role of OCHA is to bring humanitarian players together to guarantee a coordinated response to catastrophes. The organization’s primary goal is to organize and execute comprehensive humanitarian assistance in collaboration with partners and stakeholders, advocate for the rights of persons in crisis, encourage readiness and protection, and enable long-term alternatives.
OCHA organizes humanitarian response to increase the reach of humanitarian aid, enhance priority, and decrease redundancy, guaranteeing that help and safety reach the most vulnerable. OCHA presents a complete understanding of overall requirements through essential contextual and sexual identity assessment and assists a varied collection of actors in achieving a shared awareness of the humanitarian environment and a cooperative response strategy. As a result, OCHA impacts fast decision-making, which helps to enable more successful emergency assistance and disaster planning. In addition, the importance of OCHA’s participation in other business functions, such as international funding, contributes to its coordinating role [15] .
Humanitarian coordination aims to make the intervention more effective by guaranteeing consistency, transparency, and collaboration. OCHA is guiding the effort to improve the charitable system’s structure, which includes in-country solid generous representatives, reflective and encompassing Humanitarian Country Teams, a productive and well-coordinated template within which all aid agencies can donate rigorously, and dependable financing techniques. In times of crisis, OCHA plays a critical role in important to the company. This process includes assessing conditions and needs, deciding on shared goals, devising common tactics to handle difficulties such as obtaining admission, collecting financing and other sources, defining a consistent public message, and evaluating progress. In addition, OCHA must assist the Humanitarian Coordinator in their leadership and guarantee successful coordination, including bolstering the cluster strategy, data and communication management, and reporting.
OCHA and its humanitarian stakeholders can adequately position for and organize humanitarian emergencies by reinforcing the necessary institutions, relationships, and leaders. On behalf of the development community, OCHA supports effective collaboration between civilian and armed entities in strategy implementation, overcomes deficiencies in ecological disaster response, and maps worldwide emergency assistance stocks.
The fundamental goals of emergency preparedness are to save people from imminent danger and stabilize their mental and psychosocial conditions. These things go hand in hand with the burial of the deceased and the reinstatement of basic amenities like water and electricity. These things go hand in hand with the burial of the deceased and the reinstatement of basic amenities like water and electricity. This can take anywhere from one to six months, depending on the catastrophe’s scope, kind, and setting. It consists of a relief and recovery period in the early circumstances of the catastrophe, supported by a medium-term phase focused on stabilizing the victims’ psychological and mental state.
Disaster management eliminates risk-related losses, gives prompt and appropriate assistance to calamity victims, and assures a speedy and effective recovery. The disaster management cycle represents the ongoing process through which governments, businesses, and civil society prepare for and reduce the consequences of disasters, respond during and soon after a crisis, and recover after a tragedy. Many essential processes happen at all cycle phases, resulting in higher preparation, improved warnings, reduced vulnerability, or disaster avoidance in the next cycle. In addition, the whole hazard mitigation cycle entails the development of governmental policies and regulations that either alter disasters or minimize the impact of disasters on people, businesses, and technology [16] .
In this study, qualitative research provides viewers with a more realistic feel of the world than quantitative research’s numerical facts. It allows you to gather, analyze, and comprehend factual information in several ways. When it comes to picking a research strategy for a qualitative dissertation study, there are a lot of possibilities. The research question and objective will always determine the qualitative research method, but what if the study does not appear to match a phenomenology or case research methodology? A general qualitative research strategy is sometimes the best option. This research provided enough data and information gathered from the respondents. Qualitative research methods such as introspection, case studies, ecology, and others are guided by particular research objectives and presume philosophical foundations. However, the research problem, goal, and questions may need a method that draws on the benefits of several qualitative designs while avoiding the conceptual beliefs that underpin those designs. In this case, a universal qualitative approach is a suitable alternative since it gives you the customization users need.
This study aimed to understand the role of OCHA in disaster management in humanitarian response. This study provided enough information, and the researchers understood their purpose for conducting the study. Looking at the responses provided by the respondents in this research, it can be concluded that the respondents also understood the study’s objective. The first stage in disaster management is identifying the hazards and susceptibility of the surrounding people. Then, it establishes the groundwork for future catastrophe prevention and mitigation efforts. Disaster management is the organization and administration of assets and duties for engaging with all ethical elements of catastrophes, including disaster preparation, management, and rehabilitation, to mitigate the effect of calamities.
This research is significant because it develops and deepens evidence-based research, which may assist decision-makers in using information for effective treatments, saving lives, reducing illness, and allowing individuals and organizations to recuperate more swiftly and effectively. Doing something is not enough in the face of disasters and global disasters; doing what is moral at the right time. Decision-makers must know which interventions, activities, and tactics are likely to succeed, which are unlikely to work, which have yet to be demonstrated, and which may be damaging no matter how well-intentioned. They must make well-informed decisions and judgments and reference credible information [17] .
By involving youth in emergency planning and rescue operations, youth-serving organizations can raise awareness of specific hazards and enhance the likelihood of openly discussing how to protect their loved ones effectively and seek treatment if their society is impacted. In addition, youth can participate in various youth curricula and play an essential role in recovery.
The sources provided for this research are significant in understanding the role of OCHA and other aiding departments in humanitarian response. The researcher’s goal in this qualitative study was to access the participants’ thoughts and feelings. Regardless of how the information is gathered, the researcher has a binding obligation to protect volunteers and their personal information. In another way, the researcher aimed to know how vital OCHA is during a catastrophe and humanitarian response. OCHA’s mission is to coordinate global rescue operations in social catastrophes to save lives and protect people. In addition, OCHA provides complete repair services to the UN framework to assist them in responding fast, efficiently, and ethically. Humanitarian aid is critical because it alleviates poverty for individuals affected by conflicts and natural disasters.
Furthermore, humanitarian assistance is vital in reducing the impact of catastrophes on communities, aiding recovery, and increasing future emergency preparedness. Therefore, humanitarian assistance is an essential part of any disaster response. When disasters strike a country, swift action is critical to save lives and provide for basic human needs. Humanitarian agencies play a vital role in these life-saving efforts, and their help is essential in crises. Therefore, massive resources must be deployed in humanitarian emergencies.
The findings in this study show that most people do not understand the role of OCHA in humanitarian response and do not have an idea of when a disaster can occur. The assessment findings from the previous research reveal that disaster preparedness and vulnerability management are becoming more critical. However, there are few instances of successful approaches. The outcomes of this study demonstrate that the humanitarian relief system needs to be reformed to boost global actors’ synergy as organizing enablers and localized contingency planning and response capability. Several things may be done to improve the response of humanitarian groups in the event of a crisis. One of the most crucial potentials in the humanitarian environment is mobilizing partnerships. By bringing together well-positioned actors and opinion leaders through effective support mechanisms, we may be able to build unconventional coalitions and collaborations. Many organizations effectively combat global warming or assist tens of thousands of refugees, and their standard operating procedures should be widely communicated.
A significant concern is gaining information and data on how to satisfy children’s needs in disasters best. Every year, more children become involved in war and relocation. Famine is a constant concern and is the most vulnerable to global warming and ecological destruction. As a result, children’s disasters and vulnerable environments are becoming more and more extended and established. Since 2010, UNICEF has responded to an estimated 300 humanitarian crises in approximately 90 countries each year. Yet, the long-term effects of developmental shock sensitivity and long-term uncertainty are unknown. Recognizing this imbalance, engaged inactivity will investigate the crucial concerns that today’s current crises offer children and the best methods to react in strategies that maintain the correct balance between international development activities [18] .
This study contributes to the study of disaster management in humanitarian response. According to World Vision [19] , complex emergencies are influenced by human and natural risks. Destruction and fatalities are joint, as are mass dislocation and substantial damage to civilizations and the economy. The volume and scope of these complex situations have increased dramatically with the expansion and severity of civil wars over the last decade. While both affluent and developing nations are affected by disasters, children and families in impoverished areas are more susceptible because they have limited resources to organize and rebound from disasters. The worst consequences can be prevented in wealthier areas with sound planning systems and disaster support programs. Fire departments, paramedics, physicians, hospitals, and significant government funds may help towns cope with disasters and respond more effectively. Unfortunately, this assistance is sometimes insufficient or non-existent in disadvantaged areas.
Reconstruction may be so arduous that a population becomes much more susceptible in the event of another calamity. Additionally, following a disaster, residents in these towns have no income or property to reestablish their professions or relocate to safer locations. Their administrations are frequently unable to provide loans from the government. Many people are often compelled to live in informal settlements with little or no amenities due to demographic constraints in disadvantaged metropolitan regions. Many of them live in high-risk locations like seismic areas and riverbeds. Their homes are frequently physically unstable or hazardous due to their inability to acquire suitable construction materials [19] .
We found out that most respondents are uninformed of when a crisis may emerge after completing research and conducting interviews and surveys. This is incredibly dangerous. OCHA and other UN agencies have the task and responsibility to guarantee that people are safe and informed in a disaster. The overwhelming majority of those polled agreed such disasters might be averted. Some individuals have been trained extensively, while others have not, signaling to the humanitarian department that trainers should be sent to teach people the necessity of being prepared for natural catastrophes. In conclusion, the data gathered indicates that most individuals are unaware of the importance of disaster management in humanitarian response.
These findings suggest that future studies should be undertaken with different people to achieve the most remarkable results. Various humanitarian agencies and activities have been the subject of research that has discovered important insights regarding their implementation, effects, and social consequences. According to the data gathered from focus groups, most respondents are aware of OCHA’s involvement in humanitarian assistance. The respondents were mindful of the significance of the study and were willing to react appropriately.
OCHA aims to command the worldwide emergency response in humanitarian emergencies to protect people. OCHA promotes universal, comprehensive, and moral emergency relief. The agency organizes emergency assistance to increase the impact of humanitarian aid, enhance priority, and decrease redundancy, ensuring that help and safety reach the most vulnerable. OCHA delivers a complete picture of overall requirements through essential contextual and gender-responsive analysis and assists a varied collection of actors in achieving a shared knowledge of the humanitarian environment and a coordinated approach [20] .
The disaster management cycle refers to the ongoing process through which companies and social organizations plan for and reduce disasters, react during and immediately after a disaster, and recuperate from a calamity. Several important actions occur throughout the cycle, resulting in improved readiness, alerts, lower vulnerability, or catastrophe avoidance in the following process. Establishing governmental rules and laws that either alter catastrophes or reduce the impact of disasters on people, businesses, and technology is at the heart of the hazard mitigation cycle [16] .
These results imply that people need to be trained in disaster management and how to deal with it if it happens to occur. This study is noteworthy because it advances and expands evidence-based research, which may help decision-makers utilize data to design effective therapies, save lives, reduce sickness, and allow people and organizations to recover more quickly and effectively. In the face of disasters and global crises, doing anything is not enough; doing what is moral at the right moment is. Decision-makers must understand which initiatives, activities, and approaches are likely to prevail, which are rarely successful and have yet to be proven. Which, no matter how well-intentioned, may be harmful. They must make well-informed decisions and judgments, and they must do it with the help of reliable information [17] .
The majority of people do not comprehend OCHA’s role in humanitarian response, and they have no notion when a crisis may strike, according to the conclusions of this survey. The previous study’s evaluation results show that disaster preparedness and vulnerability management are growing increasingly significant, even though there are few examples of successful techniques. The findings show that the humanitarian aid system has to be modified to improve international actors’ cooperation as organizational facilitators and localized emergency preparedness capabilities. Several things may be implemented to promote a humanitarian response in the case of a disaster.
The overarching goal of this research was to identify the role of OCHA in humanitarian response and how disaster management teams impact the study area. While we acknowledge the limitations of our research, we have primarily done this through our theoretical framework and other studies. We have decided to apply some theories and conduct subsequent research to improve the results based on our results. We have developed and tested some theories that will be used to support this research. We have identified necessary steps to deal with the study, including hiring a training team that will train and educate people on what disaster and humanitarian responses are.
These processes, in turn, lead to particular results in terms of enhancing research quality, most notably recruiting techniques and materials, as well as data-collecting instruments and methodologies. We discovered a specific feedback loop to study partners on their contributions, which leads to increased conviction and drive, allowing them to continue contributing. Given that the interview and questionnaire questions seemed challenging, we decided to change the set of questions to see the difference in the responses provided by the respondents. Participants can also respond in as much depth as they like with open-ended questions. Additional information helps to verify and improve their responses, giving you more reliable data and valuable insights. Open-ended questions encourage conversations between the researcher and the respondent, so we decided to have a different questionnaire to see if the respondents would answer correctly. Research participants can provide additional information by answering open-ended questions, providing the researcher with extra contextual information. We can better comprehend the respondent’s feelings and ideas on the survey problem [21] .
The defects or weaknesses are its flaws or shortcomings, which might be due to a lack of resources, a small sample size, or poor technique. The study had some limitations that need to be avoided in future research. The findings of the study did not tell us how many persons registered for the survey. The research study focused solely on disaster management in humanitarian response. Another drawback was that not enough people attended the interview as expected before. We will make sure that we do a follow-up with the respondents in future research. Keeping in touch with the respondents will remind them of their participation in the study, making them all set for the interview. Because some respondents took their time answering interview and survey questions, the entire process was slowed. This is because maybe the questions were challenging, or they did not know what to give as an answer. Therefore, future research will provide more choices to the questions so that the respondents find something to put as the answer.
The results also did not indicate whether respondents would be willing to participate in a future poll if it was held in the same place based on the data gathered. This is an important part of an interview that the researchers should not forget. The researchers should be able to know if they should look for the same respondents in future research. Our initial proposal stated that research would include young people, and families with children should be included in the research procedure. We enlisted the help of two studies featuring parents of young children under the age of five and two initiatives involving “older” young adults aged 18 to 25. We acknowledge that we overlooked studies on children and young people under 18. We would have loved to include such research in theory. Still, considering our resources and the access to information, moral and administrative challenges that would have been required, we, unfortunately, determined that this would not be feasible for our study.
4. Conclusions
Disaster Risk Management comprises all actions, methods, and procedures that may be performed before, during, and after a disaster to avoid, mitigate, or recover from its losses. Understanding the four phases of disaster management may assist businesses in more rationally and deliberately planning for and responding to calamities. We found a particular feedback loop for study partners on their efforts, which results in enhanced conviction and motivation, allowing them to continue giving. Open-ended questions encourage the researcher and the respondent to converse. We are making some changes to our future research because the findings did not indicate whether respondents would be willing to participate in a future poll if it was held in the exact location.
The vast majority of individuals are unaware of the importance of disaster management in humanitarian response. This is due to insufficient training and exposure to the outside world. Disaster management professionals should devise a strategy to help these individuals comprehend what humanitarian response entails. The field entails organizing and directing assets in response to an emergency. There is no apparent distinction between immediate relief and recovery, which leads to long-term sustainable growth. Every year, more children are impacted by war and displacement. Children are the most vulnerable to climate change and environmental harm. Good preparation and disaster relief programs can avoid the worst repercussions in wealthier communities. However, in poor communities, this aid is either minimal or non-existent. The vast majority of individuals are unaware of the importance of disaster management in humanitarian response. The findings are related to real-world actions in such a way that people do not grasp the function of OCHA. It is due to insufficient training and a lack of exposure to contemporary global trends. Disaster management is concerned with the coordination and orientation of assets in response to an emergency.
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to God. He has given me strength and encouragement throughout the difficult process of finishing this dissertation. I am eternally grateful for His unending love, mercy, and grace. Words cannot express how grateful I am to my professors and committee chairs, Dr. Melissa Houston and Dr. Lakisha Anthony, for their time and feedback. I also could not have gone on this journey without the help of my defense committee, who generously shared their knowledge and expertise. Furthermore, without the generous support of former colleagues and friends of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, this endeavor would not have been possible.
I am grateful to my classmates and cohort members, particularly my office colleagues, for their editing assistance, late-night feedback sessions, and moral support. Thanks also go to the United Nations librarians, research assistants, and study participants who influenced and inspired me. I'd also like to express my gratitude to Abass Alamenehe, Dr. Atesmachew Hailegiorgis, Dr. Mesfin Genanaw, and the late Dawit Hailu for their encouragement and emotional support.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge my family, particularly my spiritual fathers, wife, children, and cousins. Their confidence in me has kept my spirits and motivation high throughout the process.