Free Essay Sample «NGO and Government Relief Operations»

Relief operations refer to logistical or material assistance that is provided to people in reaction to humanitarian catastrophe instigated by both manmade and natural factors. NGOs are voluntary organizations that are, usually, non-profit and independent from government that engages them in societal and developmental issues (Cahill, 2003). They play various roles in disaster management, for example, by offering rescue and material aids to affected people. Another area of focus of NGOs is fund raising and establishing temporary camps for the affected population. Besides, they help in building resilience for a community so as to enable it to prepare for future shocks and stresses. NGOs play a major role in preparing a community and mitigating the calamity risks. On the other hand, the government offers rescue help to the affected population through military services (Auarberch, menon&.Noris, 2010). In case of a disaster, the government deploys its military forces to rescue people. The government also offers financial and material aid such as provision of food to the affected population.

The extent to which NGOs and government relief operations should consider the influence of their relief on settlements

The NGOs and the government should greatly consider the effects of their relief operations on settlement so as to avert further injuries and deaths, because the quality of shelter greatly influences health and well-being of a person. In most cases, relief operations result into higher density of population (Bennet, 2014). This, in turn, leads to poor sanitation and inadequate water supply, and diseases outbreak. Therefore, the government has a responsibility of ensuring that the place settled by the affected population has good sanitation so as to prevent death cases brought about by health hazards. The settlement area should have good access to clean drinking water and good refuse disposal mechanisms. Moreover, the place should be secure so as to prevent the population from internal and external attacks that would lead to deaths and injuries. The place should be free from climate, water-related hazards and attacks in order to ensure that the people are safe.

In addition, the place should be accessible so that there can be ample supply of food and other necessities to the affected population. This will reduce death cases that may occur due to starving and also lack of health care facilities. If the place is not accessible, the government should undertake the necessary actions so as to upgrade the emergency settlement.

Do relief operators have a responsibility of helping the government to encourage the dispersion of the affected people?

Relief operators have a responsibility of helping the affected government to encourage sheltering the people to be relocated since the government may not be able to offer all the relief services alone. Moreover, the relief operators should help the government in identification of the best place to settle and relocate the affected population (United Nations, 2002). Although, government departments are the ones that coordinate distribution and relocation of work, the relief operators also should play a major role in assisting the affected people.

It is also important to note that the relief operators have a responsibility of identifying the best storage area for the donated materials. They should also provide the government with help in choosing the best transport systems for transportation of both materials and people.

Was the relief organization involved in the Katrina relief operations effective in managing their influence to settlement?

Relief organizations involved in the Hurricane Katrina relief operations were efficient in managing their influence to settlement; the organizations relocated the affected population to all the fifty states, hence, reducing overpopulation. As the affected population was relocated to other states, a massive displacement was felt all over the country (Charteoff, 2008). Although, relocation led to the largest housing crisis, many organizations, like the Housing and Urban Development Department, offered housing units nationally. By distributing the affected population to fifty states, the organizations prevented spread of diseases due to poor sanitation.

To common knowledge, this act of distributing the affected population to fifty states was a consideration to enable the organization to prevent high density of population. Since the relief organization was able to avoid high population density in some areas, hence, it succeeded in prevention of all health hazards associated with high density of population.

The importance and limitation of using military resources for foreign disaster relief operations

Significance of using military resources for foreign disaster relief operations is hard to overestimate. One of the main reasons is that through coordination and monitoring, the resources can rescue many people in large scale disasters. The military resources, usually, have capabilities that make them very efficient in rescuing and maintaining lives in extreme disasters. They also have the necessary equipment and discipline needed in saving and maintaining life processes.

Further, the military resources also help in maintaining security during the relief operations. In areas where people are affected by natural or other kinds of disasters such as terrorism, the military resources become of great help since they secure the place, hence, enable other relief organizations such as NGOs to perform rescue operations (Chandra et al, 2009).

The use of military resources also minimizes the costs connected with the outcomes of natural disaster for population (Davidson, 1996). The military resources aim at rescuing as many people and property as possible which ensures minimization of the losses incurred; hence the human cost of disaster is also reduced.

Nevertheless, there are limitations that are attributed to foreign military resources deployed to provide humanitarian relief to another country. One of them is that the foreign military must be monitored at all times in order to ensure that they do not use illegal substances that may put the lives of the affected population in danger. Such include: drugs and dangerous weapons. Moreover, such operations require sufficient funding; the affected country spends a lot of money in order to hire the foreign military forces and their resources.