Challenges and Barriers to the Participation of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Flood Management: A Qualitative Study from Iran

Floods are one of Iran's most important natural hazards, which cause a lot of damage every year. Various organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), participate in flood management. The present study aimed to explore the challenges and barriers of NGOs' participation in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDisaster medicine and public health preparedness Vol. 17; p. e178
Main Authors Sohrabizadeh, Sanaz, Shafiei Moghaddam, Parvin, Nejati-Zarnaqi, Bayram, Yousefian, Shiva, Pirani, Davoud, Sahebi, Ali, Farrahi-Ashtiani, Iman, Jahangiri, Katayoun
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.01.2023
Subjects
Codes
Content analysis
Cooperation
Credibility
Data analysis
Data collection
Disaster management
Disasters
Documentation
Emergency preparedness
Flood control
Floods
Humanitarian aid
Humanitarianism
Humans
Interviews
Iran
NGOs
Nongovernmental organizations
Organizations
Original Research
Participation
Qualitative Research
Iran
disaster management
Iran
non-governmental organizations
flood
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Summary:Floods are one of Iran's most important natural hazards, which cause a lot of damage every year. Various organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), participate in flood management. The present study aimed to explore the challenges and barriers of NGOs' participation in the management of the flooding in Iran based on stakeholders' experiences. This qualitative study is a case study that was conducted using the content analysis approach. Fifteen participants, including 3 national managers, 2 volunteers active in responding to recent floods, and 10 NGO managers/secretaries who had the knowledge or operational experience of participating in disaster management, were approached for interviews. Data were collected using a purposeful sampling method and continued until reaching data saturation. Challenges and barriers to NGOs' participation in flood management were categorized into 4 main categories and 14 subcategories, including policy-making challenges, managerial challenges, executive challenges, and socio-cultural challenges. As multiple NGOs take part in responding to disasters and performing relief operations, establishing a unified command and supervision system for effective coordination and collaborations among NGOs and other stakeholders is highly suggested. Further research is needed to develop a measurement tool for assessing the effectiveness of NGOs' activities during disasters.
ISSN:1935-7893
1938-744X
DOI:10.1017/dmp.2022.123