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

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.

کلیدواژه ها:

Disasters ، Earthquakes ، Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) ، Bam ، Iran