Role of Government and NGOs

Large-scale disaster relief response consists of a complex interplay among multiple and multidisciplinary actors. While the local government and the affected population are the primary stakeholders, in the face of major calamities so are foreign governments sending aid, international organizations (such as the United Nations and its affiliates), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their donors, and so-called hybrid organizations, such as the various arms of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement (like the ICRC and IFRC). While speed is certainly crucial in providing disaster relief, immediate action, if uncoordinated, may not be necessarily relevant, appropriate, or even beneficial. In order to provide effective and relevant relief, governments (both the host and those sending aid) and NGOs involved in humanitarian assistance should recognize the roles and responsibilities of each of these players in order to make full use of the already limited resources that can be immediately mobilized in these crisis situations and to avoid duplication (Fig. 6.1). In this chapter, we are going to examine and debate the role and identity of governments, NGOs, and other humanitarian aid players in providing disaster relief.