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Disaster Management

Disaster Management

By Name

Part 2

Critically assess the effectiveness of the relationship between NGOs, charitable organizations and the voluntary sector during the emergency response/relief phase of the DMC.

Introduction

The contribution of NGOs, charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector to disaster management efforts and especially in the response phase has not been emphasized. The relationship between NGOs, charitable organizations and the voluntary sector during the emergency response/relief phase of the disaster management cycle (DMC) is of utmost importance in enabling the meeting of goals and the purpose of each independent entity (Burnside-Lawry, Akama, & Rogers, 2013). NGOs do not have profit maximization intentions, are independent of governments, voluntary, and are fully focused on issues and activities that concern a myriad of developmental and social concerns. Charitable organizations have a similar aim, with the overall purpose being enabling people through issuance of help, food, money and other important life assets to those that need it. International charities such as UNICEF are some of the most popular players in this front (Mubah, 2003). The voluntary sector is an umbrella term referring to all organizations with the primary purpose of creating social impact as opposed to profits. Therefore, NGOs and charitable organizations are a part of the organized voluntary sector. In the event of a disaster, such as Hurricane Irma, the role of NGOs, the voluntary sector, and charitable organizations converge to that of quickly responding to create solutions that are aimed at saving as many lives as possible, given the resources at their disposal.

Relationship between NGOs, Charitable Organizations, and the Voluntary Sector

Although the terms voluntary sector, charitable organizations, and NGOs are sometimes used interchangeably, they have different objectives, description of roles, functioning style, legal status, economic strength, methodology, ideological affinity, motives, and socio-political orientation. The voluntary sector, charitable organizations, and NGOs are similar in the manner which they do not intend to make profits like a business association (Shaw, 2003). At their core, they are non-partisan and non-profit organizations. The main characteristic of these functions is their cooperative and humanitarian nature as opposed to being government-sponsored or profit oriented (Aminizade et al., 2017). These organizations share a relationship based on their volunteer work, love for humanity, social welfare, and other issues relating to the wellbeing of societies. The voluntary sector and especially charitable organizations are administered and controlled by a group of people in a society with a specific purpose to improve welfare. Volunteer groups may be either organized or spontaneous. Organized voluntary sector is made up of several organizations including responders in different scenarios such as: Save the Children, International and National Red Cross, Water Aid, St John Ambulance, Oxfam, Age UK, Samaritans, Salvation Army, Action Aid, UNICEF, Christian Aid, and Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). These organizations may take the form of non-governmental and not-for-profit entities. NGOs are international in nature, not established through inter-state agreements and has freedom of views. NGOs have a role in creating cooperation between key stakeholders such as governments and the people. In the event of a disaster, they provide the coordination necessary to bring about relief and response activities, by synchronizing the people, the government, and the international communities towards the same goal.

The Emergency Response/Relief Phase of the DMC

Disaster management is primarily intended to avoid or reduce potential loss from different hazards, assure appropriate and prompt assistance to disaster victims, and attain effective and rapid recovery (Coetzee & Van Niekerk, 2012). The DMC illustrates a continuous process through which stakeholders including governments, civil societies, and businesses plan for and minimize the impact of a disaster, react in the midst of it, and plan on recovering after occurrence. According to Jahangiri, Eivazi, & Mofazali (2017), appropriate action at every level of the cycle results in greater preparedness, reduced vulnerabilities, disaster prevention in a follow up iteration, and better warnings. The emergency response phase of a disaster requires major efforts to reduce the hazard(s) created. For example, activities during Hurricane Irma including emergency relief and search and rescue were all geared towards responding to the disaster and attempting to reduce the hazards that came out of it. Like every other critical piece in the DMC, the response phase plays a vital role in providing safety, preventing hazards, and ensuring that the general welfare of people is attained. The essentials of early recovery include the assurance of continuity for local governance, ensuring safety and security, maintenance of the rule of law, meeting emergent environmental challenges, reintegration of displaced persons, and the reunification of families and lost members of a society including vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and those living with disabilities.

Emergency response is performed in the immediate aftermath of disasters. Response can be defined as the provision of emergency services and public assistance both during and immediately after a hazard. As further analyzed below, the response phase in the DMC is conducted in order to save lives, to reduce the health impact, in ensuring public safety, and in order to meet the basis subsistence needs of those affected. The main aim of the emergency response phase, as noted by Rotolo & Berg (2011), is to offer immediate assistance with the purpose of maintaining life, improving health, and supporting the morale in the affected populations. Personal safety and the welfare of people in the emergency and in the duration of the response stage are reliant on the level of preparedness. Response activities include actions such as the implementation of the disaster response plan, performing search and rescue activities, taking all necessary actions that are geared towards the protection of the individual, families, property, and so on. The phase also includes all activities that are intended to address the public perceptions on critical areas such as water and food safety. The said assistance is described by Bănică, Kourtit, & Nijkamp (2020) to include provision of specific but limited aid including offering transport for internally displaced people or refugees, providing temporary shelter for victims of a disaster, offering food and water to victims, and the establishment of semi-permanent settlements in camps and other controlled areas. Response, depending on the plan at play, may also include initial repair to damaged infrastructure such as sewer lines, power, phone cables, roads, and water systems. In this phase, response includes a focus on meeting basic needs of the affected populations until sustainable and permanent solutions are found. Humanitarian organizations including charitable organizations, NGOs, and the voluntary sector are strongly present in the response phase within the DMC.

Effectiveness of Stakeholder Relationships during the Emergency Response Phase

In the conventional disaster management cycle, the role of NGOs, charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector have been coordination of response efforts. Specifically, NGOs have focused on the supply side in the response phase that includes the delivery of services, provision of developmental programs, and providing assistance to governmental bodies to increase the reach of programs. The demand side has been left to charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector. These groups have been involved in activities such as aiding communities to articulate concerns in the aftermath of a disaster, negotiating with local authorities for support, and the provision of technical kills in the communication process. As the disaster management process evolves, NGOs, charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector are expected to take more roles including ensuring the adoption of successful approaches, educating and sensitizing the public, attuning official programs to public needs through offering local experience, operational collaboration, influencing local development policies, and helping other stakeholders craft more effective response strategies.

Executing recovery plans, lessening the likelihood for auxiliary damages, and planning for recuperation stages require the effectiveness of the roles played by each function. Therefore, NGOs, charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector have different roles to play in the said process. Effective response phase includes a critical role played by NGOs and charitable organizations in creating and raising awareness amongst different entities. For example, during Hurricane Irma, NGOs were involved in rescue and safety operations, including providing temporary shelter, and transporting victims from different areas to safety zones. The voluntary sector is also mandated with the same roles and expectations, due to the advantage of being made up of both organized and spontaneous groups. The latter consists of community members and well-wishers who are usually a part of the disaster (McLennan, Whittaker, & Handmer, 2016). They have a better understanding of local governance, and the general culture of a location. During Hurricane Irma, spontaneous volunteer groups were made up of neighborhood groups, church organizations, off-duty law enforcement individuals, and different groups of people interested in lending a hand to the victims. The volunteer sector, charitable organizations, and NGOs act in different capacities and levels. They reach out to different groups. For example, volunteer groups have a deeper reach at the disaster location level. Charitable organizations may extend their reach to areas beyond the disaster zones. NGOs have the widest reach, being able to coordinate events between different nations, reaching out to other NGOs, governments, and international groups such as the United Nation’s different disaster recovery organizations. Therefore, effectiveness entails communication and coordination in order to meet the goals of avoiding and reducing losses due to a disaster, assuring assistance to victims, and attaining effective and rapid recovery.

Challenges Associated with the Recovery Processes

The relationship between NGOs, charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector is one of the most important factors in determining the effectiveness of their role in the response phase. Even though these groups act independently, they are faced with the same problems, made unique by the type of disaster, local authority, and other critical elements. The main challenges linked to the response phase include failure of these groups in strictly applying the rule of the law, a notable lack of education and training about disaster risks for the voluntary sector, poor planning, lack of an effective coordination sector, unstable security situations, citizen interventions, lack of equipment, tools or infrastructure required to perform their roles, and inadequate financial resources. Response plans rarely include NGOs, voluntary sector, and charitable organizations in the framework, including a definition of roles and clear guidelines on what is expected of different groups based on specialization, resources available, and their reach. Therefore, for example, voluntary sector members such as church groups and other spontaneous volunteer groups are sometimes expected to perform at the same level with well-established organizations such as the International Red Cross or the Salvation Army. Education and training on what to do in the event of a disaster, especially in the response phase is a major challenge. The lack of training leads to command and coordination problems, a lack of communication and misinformation, overcrowding, poor assessment, and a lack of cultural integration. The involvement of NGOs, charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector, including the creation of a relationship in the response phase is necessary to achieve effectiveness and the successful achievement of disaster management goals.

Conclusion

Disaster management is primarily intended to avoid or reduce potential loss from different hazards, assure appropriate and prompt assistance to disaster victims, and attain effective and rapid recovery. Humanitarian organizations including charitable organizations, NGOs, and the voluntary sector are strongly present in the response phase within the DMC. In the event of a disaster, the role of NGOs, the voluntary sector, and charitable organizations converge to that of quickly responding to create solutions that are aimed at saving as many lives as possible, given the resources at their disposal. The main characteristic of these functions is their cooperative and humanitarian nature as opposed to being government-sponsored or profit oriented. These organizations share a relationship based on their volunteer work, love for humanity, social welfare, and other issues relating to the wellbeing of societies. In the conventional disaster management cycle, the role of NGOs, charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector have been coordination of response efforts. The demand side has been left to charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector. A major problem and challenge that reduces effectiveness of the relationship between NGOs, charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector is that response plans rarely include NGOs, voluntary sector, and charitable organizations in the framework, including a definition of roles and clear guidelines on what is expected of different groups based on specialization, resources available, and their reach. Therefore, the relationship between NGOs, charitable organizations, and the voluntary sector is one of the most important factors in determining the effectiveness of their role in the response phase, and the challenges to this relationship threatens the success of a response plan.

References

Aminizade, M., Nekouei Moghaddam, M., Birami Jam, M., Shamsi, M., Majidi, N., Amanat, N., & Hoseini, S. H. (2017). The role of volunteer citizens in response to accidents and disasters. Health in Emergencies and Disasters, 2(3), 107-124.

Bănică, A., Kourtit, K., & Nijkamp, P. (2020). Natural disasters as a development opportunity: a spatial economic resilience interpretation. Review of Regional Research, 40(2), 223-249.

Burnside-Lawry, J., Akama, Y., & Rogers, P. (2013). Communication research needs for building societal disaster resilience. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 28(4), 29-35.

Coetzee, C., & Van Niekerk, D. (2012). Tracking the evolution of the disaster management cycle: A general system theory approach. Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies, 4(1), 1-9.

Jahangiri, K., Eivazi, M. R., & Mofazali, A. S. (2017). The role of Foresight in avoiding systematic failure of natural disaster risk management. International journal of disaster risk reduction, 21, 303-311.

McLennan, B., Whittaker, J., & Handmer, J. (2016). The changing landscape of disaster volunteering: opportunities, responses and gaps in Australia. Natural Hazards, 84(3), 2031-2048.

Mubah, A. S. (2013). Government and NGOs collaboration in disaster governance: The Indonesian experience. Global & Policy, 1(01).

Rotolo, T., & Berg, J. A. (2011). In times of need: An examination of emergency preparedness and disaster relief service volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40(4), 740-750.

Shaw, R. (2003). The role of nongovernmental organizations in earthquake disaster management: An Asian perspective. Regional development dialogue, 24(1; SEAS SPR), 117-119.

Cultural Studies

Students Name

Institution of Affiliation

Course Title

Date

Cultural StudiesSECTION A: Definition of terms

Stuart Hall- Jamaican- born British Marxist sociologist, cultural theorist and political activist.

Cultural studies- this is a field that deals with theoretical, political and empirical cultural analysis explain its historical foundations, defining traits and conflicts.

Ideology- A set of ideas, values and beliefs that is acceptable by a society or a socially acceptable group of people

Democratic pluralism- It’s a political system that has more than one center of power.

Articulate- This is the ability to speak fluently and coherently.

Economic determinism- A theory that assumes that economic relationships are the basis upon which all the other societal and political arrangements are based.

Cultural industries – term used by social thinkers to describe the popularity of culture in the capitalist society and how it functions like an industry in producing standardized products which produce standardized people.

Hegemony-The political dominance or control of one state over others through cultural or ideological means.

Michael Foucault- French philosopher, social theorist, historian of ideas and a literal critic.

Discursive formation-A cluster of ideas, images or practices that provide forms of knowledge and behavior associated with a certain topic or social behavior.

Larry Frey- A professor in the department of communication at the university of Colorado at Boulder whose research focus on applied communication as well as communication research methods.

SECTION TWO:

Cultural factors that affect the selection of news

Selection of news can be influenced by the following factors, the media owners, editorial policies, advertisers, information sources, audiences and media managers.

Why Hegemony is not a household word in the united states. How would you explain what the term means to our friends? Can you think of a metaphor or an analogy that would clarify this critical concept?

Hegemony can be described as when one thing takes over another unexpectedly. It can be compared to something as a trend. Trends in fashion always take over society without anyone knowing where it came from or how it became popular. A metaphor for hegemony could be an infection it starts in one place and then progressively spreads everywhere.

What is your idea about the corporate control of mass communication in the USA?

Corporates are profit-driven, market-oriented newspaper and media system with an inherent tendency to lead to concentration: huge newspaper chains in which most cities have only one newspaper which eliminates competitionConsequences of corporate control include;huge barriers to entry for nonprofit media,

particularly sever problem for TV news Internet: could act as a meaningful counterweight to corporate-dominated news organizations

Evaluating Gentrification Related To Neighborhood and City Health

Student’s Name

Supervisor’s Name

Course Name

Due date

Evaluating Gentrification Related To Neighborhood and City Health

“Gentrification a lift for everyone” was the headline of a 2005 article in USA Today (Newman & Wyly, 2006). This trend has sparked heated debate, with supporters and opponents split down the middle. One of the main arguments against this, as discussed by Professor Stephen Sheppard in his paper, ‘Why is Gentrification a Problem,’ is that low-income households who have spent years building a community with all of its complex social networks are forced to pack up and leave, either by choice or necessity. These residents are frequently unable to afford to stay in gentrified districts, and those that do may feel alienated from the community (Sheppard, 2012).

Professor J. Peter Byrne argues in his paper, “Two Cheers for Gentrification,” that an increase in the number of rich and well-educated citizens can only benefit cities. The fundamental reason for this is a growth in the number of residents with a lot of spare cash who may put it to good use in the city by paying taxes, buying local goods, and participating in local political processes. He goes on to say that the shortage of affordable housing, which is typically blamed on gentrification, is the result of the government’s incapacity to provide it. As a result, having wealthy people live and invest in the city will allow the government to support more affordable housing (Byrne, 2003).

Newman and Wyly began their investigation in their paper by examining displacement and its changes in New York City throughout the decade before the start of their research. They looked at information from the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey, which is a three-year longitudinal study. Residents are polled on a variety of topics, including jobs, housing circumstances, and demographics. Newman and Wyly examined five previous years of surveys, filtering them to only include those that met their research criteria, which mostly included renters who had moved into their present residence since the previous study. They also looked at those who had relocated inside the city rather than those who had moved from other cities to acquire a better understanding of how gentrification affects intra-urban mobility.

The researchers subsequently conducted a second investigation, this time using an interpretivist approach. They did so by conducting a field study in neighborhoods inside the seven gentrifying sub-borough areas identified by Freeman and Braconi to acquire a deeper grasp of the changes brought about by this tendency within existing communities. This study went into greater detail into the numerous factors that drove residents of gentrifying districts to relocate.

The researchers used the second part of their study to identify two districts with little social change and to gain a deeper grasp of the lack of gentrification on the map and the ground. They gathered information through a variety of methods, including fieldwork, data generated from databases, archives, and secondary sources, and in-person interviews. Researchers wanted to acquire a better understanding of the causes of stalled gentrification and how they differ in different neighborhoods by using an interpretivist approach.

To strengthen the validity of their findings, all three of our researchers used two separate study approaches. Wyly and Newman utilized a mix of positivist and interpretivist methodologies to evaluate whether the census data supported their arguments that gentrification induced displacement and then to identify the precise reasons for these displacements. Their research, on the other hand, was not objective. The primary difference between Ley & Dobson’s technique with the one indicated above is that their research was conducted objectively, and as a result, their findings did not give strong evidence to back their statements.

Gentrification may result in displacement, which may be linked to increased bad health in non-gentrifying neighborhoods, lowering a city’s overall health. Second, the good health in gentrifying neighborhoods could simply be the result of the influx of more affluent, already healthier inhabitants. Gentrification has an impact on public health, especially in areas where certain communities are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of gentrification. According to studies, vulnerable populations have a shorter life expectancy, a higher cancer rate, a higher rate of birth deformities, a higher newborn mortality rate, and a higher prevalence of asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Bibliography

Diem, S., Holme, J. J., Edwards, W., Haynes, M., Epstein, E. (2019). Diversity for whom? Gentrification, demographic change, and the politics of school integration. Educational Policy, 33(1), 16–43.

This case study looked at how three New York City schools dealt with the effects of gentrification as student demographics changed. The conflicts, triumphs, and problems inherent in the school gentrification and integration process were examined using the conceptual framework of urban school leaders as cultural workers.

GD Johnson, M Checker, S Larson, (2021). A small area index of gentrification, applied to New York City. Department of Urban Studies, City University of New York

With application to New York City, this study gives a small-area indicator of the multifactorial process loosely referred to as gentrification (NYC). For NYC census tracts that are spatially normalized to the year 2010, the relative change of key input variables (median family income, median rent, and proportions of non-Hispanic white, 20–34-year-olds, and individuals with a 4-year college degree) was computed from 2000 to 2016.

Kenneth. A. Gould, TL Lewis, (2018). From Green Gentrification to Resilience Gentrification. City university of New York, Brooklyn.New York City’s once industrial waterfronts have been transformed into gentrified residential districts for the environmental class in the recent decade. To accomplish this, the city must clean and green these areas. This is referred to as green gentrification. It is headed by public officials and corporate investors who exploit underutilized environmental resources as part of the green growth machine.