Collaborating the Relief and Recovery Efforts in Post Disaster Situations in Pakistan

Need Assessment and Conceptual Coordination Framework

Funded through the HI² research seed grant program, the aim of this study is to investigate the coordination issues in relief distribution mechanisms in flood prone areas of Pakistan. Pakistan, like several other South Asian developing countries, is considered to have extreme coordination and communication issues in relief and recovery stages in disaster prone fields. This project aims to identify gaps in planned relief activities designed by the government and actual relief services conducted in flood affected areas in Punjab, the most flood prone province of Pakistan. The study will administer the Humanitarian Emergency Settings Perceived Needs (HESPER) scale to gather the most accurate need assessment of victims in flood affected areas in Punjab. Moreover, the project will also conduct a gap analysis and propose a detailed list of items required by the victims as well as conducting a series of interviews with key personnel from relief organizations. After gathering detailed insights on how relief organizations determine the victims’ needs and administer the supply distribution logistics, the team will construct a theoretical model of the coordinated distribution mechanisms. The model aims to highlight a coordinated mapping of supplies lists, victims' perceived needs, logistic routes, and distribution mechanisms to avoid duplication, excess, or shortage of supplies. Social network analysis would be employed to determine the degree, power and conectedness of central organizations in the relief networks.