Interorganizational Collaboration in Disaster Relief: The Case of Typhoon Haiyan

BACKGROUND

Events of natural hazards like earthquakes, floods, droughts and tsunamis, constitute a large majority of disasters. While natural hazards cannot be prevented, the scale of its impact depends on the physical, social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities. Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) aims to preemptively reduce the causal factors of disasters through systematic efforts. Reducing exposure to hazards, lessening vulnerability of people and property, wise management of land and the environment, and improving preparedness and early warning for adverse events are all examples of disaster risk reduction.

A major component of DRR efforts is strengthening institutional responses and collective behavior in extreme disaster conditions. While the response activities undertaken by official emergency agencies are crucial, these activities constitute only part of the picture. The manner in which these agencies interacted with and obtained support from non-crisis departments and external international aid organizations.

Interorganizational networks in emergencies play an important role in reducing the effect of disaster. The research will examine the interactions among the key players and related organizations that evolved in response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. One of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, Typhoon Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, on November 8, 2013. According to UN officials, about 14 million people were affected from the cyclone, 4 million were displaced and at least 6,300 were killed.[1]

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

The research will address the following questions: How did interorganizational coordination among the organizations evolve in response to the Typhoon Haiyan? What primary organizations were involved in response? What were the primary method of interaction among the organizations?

HYPOTHESIS

Extreme events such as Typhoon Haiyan will lead to greater density of communication among the government agencies and external humanitarian agencies. As interactions between organizations increase the level of communication and information, victims of the Typhoon will be served better as a result of the collaboration among the organizations involved.

DATA

Pre-Haiyan Data: The level of communication and the organizations involved for preparing for the Typhoons is needed to assess the pre-disaster coordination and interactions among organizations. Data can be used from the situation reports released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) which lead the preparation and coordination efforts prior to the Typhoon. This data will be used to develop a list of government, international, non-profit, and private organizations that participated in preparation stage of Haiyan. Some of the organizations that would be central to the pre-data would be the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA), the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (HCT). Data on the level of inter-organizational communication and information flow is crucial to analyzing the networks of the involved organizations prior to the disaster.

Post-Haiyan Data: While the Philippines Government continued to lead the relief efforts across all affected areas, numerous humanitarian partners arrived at the scene to support the relief efforts. Some of the agencies from the Philippines Government that were involved with the post-Haiyan relief process were the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the Department of Health and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). External agencies ranged from non-profit to international organizations: namely, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNICEF, UNDP, Save the Children, International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC), World Food Program, World Health Organization Western Pacific Region (WPRO), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Department for Safety and security (UNDSS).

Comparison between Situation Reports and NDRRMC Plan: Coordination with multiple organizations with different mandates and specialties would have been a challenge for the NDRRMC. By assessing the patterns from their communication level and information flows, one can compare their actual interaction with the designated roles in the national disaster response plan. This data will help understand where the gaps are between what the government has planned as response measures and the actual interactions that occur at the event of an emergency.   

What will be the most important network measures?

(1)    Centrality measures by degree will indicate the most influential organizations in the response operation. Closeness centrality measure will capture the disseminator of information which is critical for urgent response and coordination of relief efforts. Organizations with highest betweenness centrality would be those who connect the organizations well. Assuming that there would be difficulty in communicating between public and non-profit organizations, nodes with high betweenness would be critical for coordination between the different types of organizations. All the centrality measures would differ according to the directionality of the ties, which may also give us more insight to the flow of information.

(2)     Subgroup and clique analysis will identify groups within the entire orchestra of relief organizations involved. By conducting this analysis, one may actually notice a differential gap in information flow between the Philippines government agencies, international organizations and smaller NGOs involved. Identifying groups and bridging the informational gap would be essential to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

(3)    In additional to these analysis, calculating the distance between the central information distributor and the nodes at the outskirts of the network would be helpful as well. In the case of disaster relief, fast dissemination of accurate information to the local entities conducting relief works on the field determines the success rate of the response. Thus, analyzing this distance between central nodes and the local NGO organizations would be useful.

What will the SNA help you do (e.g. refocus or narrow field of research, identify interviewees, lead to organizational change?)

Applying SNA to understand interorganizational interactions in response to Typhoon Haiyan will provide an insight to the multi-sectoral collaboration involved in disaster relief works. Comparing the actual information flow and collaboration among agencies to the NDRRMC disaster response plan will illuminate areas that need improvement in coordination. Furthermore, policy makers and international aid organizations can better understand the importance of collaboration and communication between government agencies at all levels and between public and non-profit sectors.

**Hyosun Bae: I will not be taking the second module

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[1] http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/13/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-haiyan/