Coordinating humanitarian logistics through ICT - case of NADMO
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Date
2008-08-16
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Abstract
The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) is responsible for the management of disasters and similar emergencies and has been mandated by the Parliament of Ghana to perform the following functions: Coordination of the activities of various bodies in the management of disasters; Rehabilitation of persons affected by disasters; Social
mobilization, especially at the community level to support various Government programmes,
the last but not the least is to ensure that the country is prepared to prevent disasters and manage them well when they occur. This daunting task of NADMO, coordination of many different aid agencies, suppliers, and local and regional actors, all with their own ways of operating and own structures can be very challenging (Long and Wood, 1995). Nonetheless
lack of coordination often leads to confusion at the last mile; however it can be reduced through the smooth collaboration and communication among stakeholders to share the little resources available. Information Communication Technology (ICT) database can be very useful and handy tool with its repository in terms of collaboration to support coordination successfully in disaster management especially during the preparedness stage of the disaster management (Murray, 2005), Open ended questionnaire and interview were used to assess all the primary data while reports and records were used for the secondary data. Percentage cumulative frequency tool of SPSS software and graph tool of Microsoft Excel software were used to analyse the data obtained. SQL Microsoft software was used to develop Information communication technology database repository. The study revealed that in times of disaster, there is slow response both on the part of NADMO as well as other governmental and non¬governmental relief organizations. Secondly, the people living in this disaster prone areas have very little or no education on disaster preparedness and mitigation except for occasional
mass media education. Moreover, there was little or no coordination between NADMO and other relief agencies operating within the country. Though records of logistics are kept, its management was done manually. It is therefore recommended that ICT infrastructure and capacity building of the human resource be put in place in all districts of the country to enable NADMO fulfill its mandate. Further studies must be done into the operations of NADMO in aftermath of disaster management.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA), 2008