Role of International Non-Government Organizations - Essay Example

Role of International Non-Government Organizations Introduction Crises and disasters attract attention by their unusual, unexpected or severe nature. News of a plane crash or terrorist attack becomes frontpage headlines in newspapers around the world, and may be discussed in company board rooms and by government agencies concerned to avoid or minimise similar occurrences. Typically, a response is developed to the particular crisis, and it passes. Viewing a crisis in this manner leads to a focus in policy making literature on the randomness of crises and disasters and the need therefore to develop plans to better manage these unpredictable events. Risk identification is basically a process that allows an organization or a company to identify any potential risks that the organization faces. Risk identification is the first and one of the main steps of the risk management process. Organizations usually carry out risk management to ensure that their assets and their operations are not damaged by a certain imminent threat. In case the company is unable to prevent any threat from occurring the organization implements certain measures that ensure that the damage is kept to a minimum[Dal95].In this paper, the author will evaluate how the tourism industry of Thailand recovered from the aftermath of Tsunami in 2004 and what role was played by government, NGOs and other stakeholders in helping the industry to return to its usual form. The tsunami of December 2004 affected six provinces along Thailand’s Andaman coast. It had an impact on 407 villages, completely destroying 47 of them, and killing more than 8,200 people. As of December 2005, 929 bodies remained unidentified, though by May 2006 this number had been reduced to around 500; these bodies are at the Bang Maruan cemetery in Phang Nga. The tsunami also orphaned 1,637 children. Adults and children alike will take years to recover from the psychosocial effects and the widespread loss of livelihoods. Tourism in Thailand (brief) Tourism Crises Significance Scope limitations Key Research questions-3 questions Research questions: •What action plans and strategies that Thai government used to make this crisis situation better and what were the challenges of Thai government? -Emergency coordination -Protection principle •How stakeholders in the tourism industry supported the Thai government in the recovery and how the relationship between them and Thai government? •What NGOs responded in the building back better to Thailand after the Tsunami 2004? - The international system, local NGOs and international NGOs Main Body Government Policies before Natural Disaster Thailand tourism economy-policies Role of Government after natural disaster Methodologies used by the government Understanding tourism crises and disasters in Tourism in Thailand Challenges faced by the government Role of Stakeholders Challenges faced by the stakeholders Relationship of stakeholders and Thai government Role of NGOs Tsunami that disrupted the environment and created economic problems for the country required a coordinated relief effort supported by the government and international agencies to prevent further destruction, build back Thailand and its tourism sector. In this regard, it is essential to take into consideration the role of the non-profitable organizations like NGO’s who played their part in integrating all the activities related to crises management. There were many national and international operations carried out who had the purpose of delivering aid to the affected persons. However, there were many difficulties faced by these non-government organizations. In order to generate an understanding on the underlying issue, using secondary sources, research is being conducted on the role of local and international NGO’s, the challenges faced by them. Moreover, an analysis of the facts and figures is carried out to determine the extent of collaborated efforts put forward by all these organizations. Role of Local NGOs Non government and private organizations of Thailand have contributed by fund raising and giving donations to the affected population. There were many people who lost their lives, many were homeless, and thus these NGO’s played an important role in managing crises. It is necessary to state that there are few NGO’s working in Thailand that only work for the interests of a target group for instance, Haka Baptist Church that maintains a good community relationship with Burmese migrants but after tsunami, they made efforts to raise funds to for the cause[Tsu06]. In the same way, CODI (Community Organizations Development Institute) worked to build back and renovate the affected places, provided aid and also played a vital role in improving their life style and career as well[Kru08]. People living in the coastal areas were badly affected, their belongings were misplaced and also did not have any place to live so at that time government built accommodation for individuals who had legal entitlements to the places so NGO’s like iTV and Rotary International Foundation came forward, and they built houses for them and made sure that Government gave them permission to apply for housing at places where there were already empty houses and could be renovated into homes. Chumchonthai Foundation was initially established as an organization with the name Chumchonmeung (meaning urban community) Foundation that worked for the urban communities but after tsunami they changed their name to Chumchonthai to cater to urban and rural both areas. This organization received funds from Denmark and worked whole heartedly by building networks, credit groups and providing the affected people with low interest loans based on community savings[Kru08]. Role of International non-government organizations International assistance at the time of tourism crises strengthened the capacities of the relief teams. World Vision Foundation, an international non-profit organization compensated the families of the victims and also gave opportunities to the affected families to find means of support[Kru08]. They had about 170 staff members who worked to rebuild the life of people having a budget of about $25 million[Kru08]. Few nonprofit organizations like Southern Fisherfolks Network (UK) have always supported Muslim-fishermen in Thailand [Tsu06]but during the time of crises all such NGO’s came forward to work for projects that supported Tsunami victims. Ban Namken Community [Kru08] Identification of key issues Supporting evidences Analysis Recommendations Supporting evidences Solutions Conclusions Read More