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

Part of: Floods collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2022

Sanaz Sohrabizadeh Open the ORCID record for Sanaz Sohrabizadeh [Opens in a new window] ,
Parvin Shafiei Moghaddam Open the ORCID record for Parvin Shafiei Moghaddam [Opens in a new window] ,
Bayram Nejati-Zarnaqi Open the ORCID record for Bayram Nejati-Zarnaqi [Opens in a new window] ,
Shiva Yousefian Open the ORCID record for Shiva Yousefian [Opens in a new window] ,
Davoud Pirani Open the ORCID record for Davoud Pirani [Opens in a new window] ,
Ali Sahebi Open the ORCID record for Ali Sahebi [Opens in a new window] ,
Iman Farrahi-Ashtiani Open the ORCID record for Iman Farrahi-Ashtiani [Opens in a new window]  and
Katayoun Jahangiri Open the ORCID record for Katayoun Jahangiri [Opens in a new window]
Sanaz Sohrabizadeh
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Air Quality and Climate Change Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Parvin Shafiei Moghaddam
Affiliation:
Rescue and Relief and Disaster Management Department, Iran Helal Institute of Applied Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
Bayram Nejati-Zarnaqi
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Shiva Yousefian
Affiliation:
National Medical Emergency Organization, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran
Davoud Pirani
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ali Sahebi
Affiliation:
Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
Iman Farrahi-Ashtiani
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Katayoun Jahangiri*
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
*
Corresponding author: Katayoun Jahangiri, Email: k.jahangiri@sbmu.ac.ir
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Abstract

Objective:

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.

Methods:

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.

Results:

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.

Conclusions:

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.

Keywords

disaster managementfloodIrannon-governmental organizations
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e178
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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