Who Are These Guys? Non-Governmental Organizations in Humanitarian Relief Operations.
Abstract : The purpose of this paper it to provide an understanding of how to deal with nongovernmental organizations during a humanitarian relief operation. Examples and lessons are drawn from the following humanitarian relief operations: Provide Comfort in Northern Iraq in 1991 (helping the Kurds); Restore Hope in Somalia in 1992 and 1993; and Support Hope in Rwanda in 1994. I have described the players in humanitarian relief operations, described their interaction during the execution of relief operations, and provided some lessons learned for future relief and peacekeeping operations. An integral part of understanding of how the international relief community works is understanding the role of the various United Nations and United States agencies that coordinate relief efforts.
Organizing for Disaster: Improving U.S. Foreign Humanitarian Assistance Operations
Abstract : U.S. Government (USG) agencies provide foreign humanitarian assistance (FHA) every year to disaster victims around the world. The ability to rapidly provide humanitarian aid serves America's national interests, but USG interagency coordination for FHA remains ad hoc at the operational level. For its part, the U.S. military is not fully prepared for the unique operational challenges of FHA. Consequently, valuable time is often lost improvising a USG response after a crisis occurs. The operational-level framework for a USG response must be in place before a foreign disaster strikes. The principles and functions of FHA are distinctive at the operational level, and participating USG agencies have unique roles and responsibilities for organizing FHA operations. Unfortunately, the lack of interagency guidance has promoted an ad hoc approach to organizing FHA operations that has hampered past relief efforts. Several measures can be taken in order to better prepare for future FHA operations. These include pre-designating and training the Joint Task Force (JTF) commander and staff for FHA; developing interagency doctrine for organizing FHA operations; and over the long term, forming a standing Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) for FHA.
Problems of a centralised department in a decentralised mental hospital.
Abstract This paper deals with some of the issues and problems which arose in a state mental hospital, when in the course of becoming a more community-oriented facility, the hospital decentralized its clinical structure into geographically-based treatment units while retaining a centralized nursing department administration. The effects of unitization and a subsequent attempt to reoganize the nursing department on both the character of professional roles and the integration of parts of the hospital are discussed within the context of an open-systems conceptual model of hospital organization.