Global Humanitarian Organizations Research Articles

Finding the “Sweet Spot”: The Politics of Alignment in Cross-Sector Partnerships for Refugees

Cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) between nonprofits and businesses are increasingly implemented in response to humanitarian crises. These partnerships are motivated by ideals of alignment as stakeholders strive to find the “sweet spot” between humanitarian and business interests. However, this article shows that the ideals of alignment differ from the actual practices of alignment in the CSPs, and sweet spots are not merely found but constructed in and through changing relations of power. Based on an ethnographic case study of partnerships between a global humanitarian organization and five technology companies, the article deploys a theoretical lens from critical humanitarian studies to analyze how alignment in CSPs comes about in practice. This analysis demonstrates that in the construction of alignment, the companies’ interests become the priorities with which humanitarian organizations must align their and their beneficiaries’ needs. Consequently, while the discourse of sweet spots perpetuates an ideal of alignment where all partners benefit equally from the partnership, it legitimates power imbalances and asymmetrical alignment in practice.

Impact of Nyiragongo Volcanic Eruptions on the Resilience to the COVID-19 and Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

For decades, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been vulnerable to disasters. The most dangerous Nyiragongo volcanic eruption posed a threat to the country, particularly the city of Goma. The explosions on 22 May 2021 caused unfathomable damages, with loss of lives, properties, and the destruction of homes, displacing thousands of people, with thousands of children being left vulnerable as a result. Furthermore, it charred health and school infrastructures and decimated crops, an issue in the population where the COVID-19 has exacerbated the existing fragile health system. Importantly, these eruptions posed a challenge when DRC struggled to end COVID-19 and Ebola through surveillance, preventive measures, and vaccination. It is doubtless that priorities of the emergency have interrupted the surveillance system, thus increasing exposure to the COVID-19 and Ebola transmission. It is critical to provide basic needs to victims of the Nyiragongo volcanic eruptions in the aftermath of such a disaster. Local and global humanitarian organizations are needed to assist residents in relocating. Furthermore, appropriate and adjusted mitigation strategies will significantly prevent Ebola, COVID-19, and other infectious diseases. In this paper, we discuss the impacts of the volcanic eruption on population health and Ebola preparedness and response in the context of the global COVID-19 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Determinants of organizational performance in disaster risk reduction: A preliminary study of global humanitarian NGOs

AbstractHumanitarian organizations involved in disaster risk reduction (DRR) play a major role in helping communities better cope with disaster risks. But a lack of research has hindered our understanding of how to equip organizations with the capacity to carry out effective DRR measures. To address this question, this study unpacks the determinants of humanitarian organizations’ DRR performance. Survey data from 104 global humanitarian organizations revealed that external communication capacity was positively associated with organizational leaders’ perception of organizational DRR performance both directly and indirectly via interorganizational collaboration and social media communication. In contrast, collaboration communication quality was positively linked to perceived organizational DRR performance indirectly via interorganizational collaboration and social media communication. These findings highlight the centrality of communicative and relational resources required for effective DRR performance, which helps long‐term community resilience building. Despite social media's importance for engaging with stakeholders, this research suggests that organizations should also use media channels beyond social media to build external communication capacity and improve DRR performance.

Implementasi Program Wakaf Di Unit Cabang Act Duri

The existence of ACT in Duri, Bengkalis Regency, is a global humanitarian organization based on voluntarism. In implementing the institution, there are several waqf programs, including renovation of houses of worship and drilled clean water wells for the needs of and helping the poor in the Duri area. This research was conducted with a descriptive approach, namely, interview, observation, interview, and referring to journals related to this research. In this case, it becomes the research subject: Implementation of the Waqf Program while being the object of research at the ACT Duri Branch Unit. The presence of ACT Duri Branch provides a new phenomenon in accommodating the hopes of the community in issuing their assets in the form of waqf, both cash waqf, assets, land, livestock, businesses that have enormous beneficial value for the welfare of the ummah. The programs promoted by ACT Duri Branch focused on renovating houses of worship and drilling wells. The bore well program is implemented to address the educational needs of the pesantren children and the pesantren's surrounding communities who are in dire need given that the clean water conditions in Duri are very uneven and where clean water is located. In this condition, ACT Duri is taking steps to make drilling wells the flagship waqf program in the Duri area.

Kit management in humanitarian supply chains

With the continuous growth in world population and increasing disruptions due to climate change around the world, global humanitarian organizations are hard pressed to improve their capacity to respond to emergencies. Such operations require the ability by humanitarian organizations to be dynamic and react to a wide range of situations on a short term basis and kits help them do so. The aim of this research is to understand how the capabilities of a large humanitarian organization help support kit management. The method used is a multiple case study on kitting activities that are managed by a large United Nations agency. Kits offer the possibility to combine both the knowledge and skills from technical specialists and local country office staff to offer a relevant solution for emergency response. Developing relevant kits for the humanitarian context require strong collaboration between partners in the preparedness phase and thorough follow up in monitoring and evaluation to develop standards and build up relevant knowledge. With proper kit management comes improvement in flexibility, timeliness and quality and these can be shared across supply chains when kits are transferred from one humanitarian organization to another.

Academics are from Mars, humanitarians are from Venus: Finding common ground to improve research during humanitarian emergencies

In August 2014, just days after the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared that the Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa was a public heath emergency of international concern, I received an email from International Medical Corps, a global humanitarian organization, asking me to join their initial emergency response team in Liberia. This was not my first emergency deployment with International Medical Corps; over the past 5 years, I have treated earthquake victims in Haiti, managed a trauma field hospital outside Misurata, Libya, and set up a refugee camp clinic in South Sudan. But launching an Ebola response would require a completely new set of skills. As the first medical coordinator for International Medical Corps’ first Ebola Treatment Unit, one of my tasks was to develop our protocols for clinical care for patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola. In doing so, I scoured the medical literature for clinical trials, diagnostic studies, or even observational studies that could help us develop evidence-based protocols for clinical care. My search came up largely empty. Even prior guidelines developed by WHO and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) contained only a handful of primary sources in their list of references. This dearth of research on the clinical management of Ebola virus disease, despite nearly 40 years of international experience responding to epidemics of Ebola in Africa, did not come as a surprise to me. It mirrors the lack of evidence on acute care and public health interventions in all types of humanitarian emergencies, from the management of crush injuries in earthquakes to gender-based violence in conflict settings, from acute malnutrition during famine to cholera outbreaks in refugee camps. Indeed, despite the steady rise in both ‘‘natural’’ and ‘‘man-made’’ emergencies (and the corresponding rise in funding for emergency response), humanitarian healthcare today looks a lot like the rest of medicine did 50 years ago—based largely on anecdote rather than evidence, with few high-quality research studies to guide practice. The model for responding to humanitarian crises in general, and Ebola outbreaks in particular, can be summarized as ‘‘see one, do one, teach one.’’ We respond to each new emergency with the same tools we used to manage the last one, never truly knowing whether any of it worked, or what alternative methods might work better. There certainly have been efforts in recent years to change this dynamic. The SPHERE guidelines (http:// www.sphereproject.org), developed in the 1990s after a cholera epidemic in the refugee camps of Goma in the former Zaire claimed over 30,000 lives, have helped to standardize humanitarian response. But the SPHERE guidelines, similar to those developed for Ebola, are only as good as the research that supports them, of which precious little has been conducted to date. More recent initiatives have been working to build that evidence base. Evidence Aid (http://www.evidenceaid.org), an offshoot of the prestigious Cochrane Collaborative, has done an impressive job of summarizing existing research on humanitarian and disaster response through high-quality systematic reviews and rapid release of pertinent data in response to major crises, including the recent Ebola epidemic. Perhaps even more important, it has done a significant amount of work to highlight the current gaps in the literature and highest priorities for disaster research. In addition, Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA, http://www.elrha.org) is a UK-based initiative that has begun working in recent years to bridge the gap between research and practice in the humanitarian realm. They have

Melbourne, City of Literature

WORLDLITERATURETODAY.ORG 5 IN 2008 global humanitarian organization unesco classified Melbourne, Australia , an official City of Literature. It’s one of only eleven cities to bear the title worldwide , and even the most cursory search into the culture surrounding Melbourne makes it easy to see why. Per capita, more of Melbourne’s citizens read for pleasure than in any other city in Australia. Nearly half the population of the state of Victoria belongs to one of the area’s more than 250 libraries. In addition, Melbourne hosts several widely attended writing festivals throughout the year. Opened in 1854, the State Library of Victoria is Australia’s oldest library. You may have seen its La Trobe Reading Room featured in the Outpost of WLT’s September 2015 issue. Seeing that beautiful space in person would be reason enough to visit, but with more than seventy thousand items added to its collections each year, it’s also undoubtedly one of the best places to go if you’re looking for more information about Australia’s rich cultural history. It also houses the Wheeler Centre, opened in 2010, which hosts authors in near-daily discussions on everything from comedy and the climate to, of course, literacy and publishing. The city is also home to the Melbourne Writers Festival. Celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year, this festival’s nearly two-week program is among the longest I have heard of. MWF hosted four hundred writers in 2014, from independent authors to best-selling juggernauts— something for everyone. And the festival features more than just literature; you’ll also find musicians, spoken-word poets, and a different artist in residence at Federation Square every day. Best of all, onethird of its events are free. Venturing out from the library and festival into Melbourne’s laneways brings further literary adventure. Depending on which streets you visit, you’ll find everything from cafés to literacy centers in this area of Melbourne. Marked by colorful graffiti, there is plenty of space for writers and readers in the Flinders Lane precinct bounded by Swanston and Elizabeth streets. The Victorian Writers’ Centre, Collected Works Bookshop, Aboriginal Literacy Foundation, Centre for Adult Education , Letterbox, and City Library are all here, as is the literary-leaning Journal café. Jackie Lamoureux is a WLT intern. photo : rae allen Notebook city profile Melbourne, City of Literature by Jackie Lamoureux MELBOURNE IN LITERATURE Peter Carey Amnesia Knopf, 2015 Sophie Cunningham Melbourne University of New South Wales Press, 2011 Gerald Murnane A Million Windows David R. Godine, 2016 A. S. Patrić Black Rock White City Transit Lounge Publishing, 2015 ...

Foundation Activities To Improve Health Around The World

Foundation Activities To Improve Health Around The World

Nahr al-Bared crisis and local responses of aid: a focus on needs assessment during emergencies

This study describes the process and dynamics of aid during the Nahr al-Bared crisis in 2007. It seeks to explore how previous experiences of relief were capitalized on and used as part of routinized relief procedure in 2007. Based on several interviews conducted, the study provides a general description of the crisis, the problems and challenges faced and the local expertise and skills used during the crisis. The second section focuses specifically on the issue of needs assessment and information consolidation, with the action of sharing playing a vital role in aid. Data sharing was routinized and refined during the conflict to facilitate an efficient and accountable flow of aid and relief for the needed communities. Data consolidation and sharing during emergencies and crises are crucial for ensuring a process of transparency and coordination between different local and global humanitarian organizations.

Flood monitoring and mapping using passive microwave remote sensing in Namibia

Space-based river monitoring can provide a systematic, global, timely and impartial way to monitor disastrous floods. This paper describes a methodology to use daily passive microwave observations to detect, map and size floods, both for the purposes of global humanitarian organizations and national hydrological services. In the best case, floods can be detected as early as 2 h after they occur. Early warning is possible by monitoring upstream areas, with warning lead times up to 30 days. Flood maps are of a low resolution but match maps derived from high-resolution imagery. The interest lies in their daily availability, allowing us to understand the dynamic aspects of floods. Finally, objective flood sizing is achieved by integrating information over time and space. This paper details the results of the technique for the 2009 floods in Southern Africa and experiences for the 2010 flood season in Namibia.