The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Disaster Management: A Case study of Bam Earthquake, Iran

   
 

ARTICLE INFO	ABSTRACT
REVIEW ARTICLE	Introduction: On December 26, 2003, a devastating earthquake jolted historic city of Bam in Iran. About 26000 people were killed and more than 30000 were injured. The historic monuments including the 2500 year old  Arg-e Bam were destroyed severely. Since the scale of the disaster and the number of human casualties was high, management of the crisis became more complicated. Thus, people who were affiliated with different Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) helped the government to rescue the affected people. Methods: In the present case study, by interviewing experts and NGOs, their contribution and activities in Bam earthquake were investigated. Results: A few hours after the earthquake, the local and international NGOs started their rescue activities spontaneously and continued their help even during the reconstruction period. Their activities included relief and rescue, food support, sanitation, treatments, emergency settlement, as well as providing physiological treatment and training. It was shown that the affected people were satisfied with NGOs’ activities while governmental organizations could not coordinate well with them. Conclusion: Well organized civilian and religious groups can be helpful for governmental organizations in assisting people affected by the earthquake. Therefore, different techniques were proposed to improve the process of preparedness and response during disasters and to have a better communication and coordination between governmental organizations (that are in charge of the crisis situations) and NGOs. Keywords: Disasters, Earthquakes, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Bam, Iran
Article history: Received: 23 Des 2017 Revised: 7 Jan 2018 Accepted: 10 Feb 2018
*Corresponding author: Saeed Fallah Address: Natural Disaster Management Department, Graduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Email: Sd.fallah@gmail.com Tel: +9831492225

 

Introduction

I

ran is a disaster-prone country, which experiences many disasters such as earthquakes every year. Historical data show the occurrence of a major earthquake every 2– 3 years in Iran. In the 20th century alone, 20 major earthquakes claimed more than 140,000 lives, destroyed several villages and cities and caused extensive economic damages to Iran (1). On the morning of  December 26th 2003 at 05:28 (local time), a major earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale struck the city of Bam, Kerman Province, and south eastern of Iran. According to later estimates regarding the worst earthquake hitting the country during the last decade, more than 25000 people were killed and approximately 30000 were injured (2). Although the impact of the earthquake was limited to a relatively small area of about 16 Km in radius, in Bam city more than 85 percent of the buildings were completely destroyed. Its impact on surrounding rural areas was also severe. More than 39361 residential and commercial units in Bam and 34,000 houses in 250 villages were destroyed and 75,000 left homeless by the major earthquake (3). The earthquake caused the electricity, water supply and most public health and education services to be completely disrupted. The 2500 year- old historic city of Bam, an internationally renowned heritage site in the center of Bam, was almost completely destroyed (4). The Ministry of Education reported that all 131 schools in Bam and the surrounding villages, with a combined capacity of 32843 students, were either destroyed or rendered unusable. From early hours after the earthquake, people from other cities and provinces helped people of Bam. Since the scale of the disaster and the number of human casualties and damages to infrastructures were high, management of the crisis became more complicated (5). Thus, people who were affiliated to local and international NGOs helped the government to rescue affected people.
NGOs and Disaster Management
Disaster Management definition
A disaster is a sudden unplanned event
that causes great damage or serious loss to an organization (6). There are two main origins of hazards, namely natural and technological disasters. Natural disasters include hydro-meteorological, geophysical and biological disasters. The technological disasters comprise industrial, transport and miscellaneous
accidents (7).
Disaster management involves plans, structures, and arrangements established to engage the normal endeavors of governments, voluntary and private agencies in a comprehensive and coordinated way to respond to the whole spectrum of emergency needs. Disaster management cycle has components that might interact with each other and even covered partially by another component (8). Each component of comprehensive disaster management cycle is shown in Figure1.