Nongovernmental organizations coordination models in natural hazards: A systematic review

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play a significant role to provide humanitarian services in natural hazards. However, few studies have been conducted on the coordination models of NGOs. Using these models, NGOs are expected to act along with other agencies to provide unified and effective humanitarian’s services. The present study aimed to identify the published coordination models of NGOs.

This systematic review was conducted from October to November 2017. Electronic source, including PubMed, Web of Science, ProQuest Research Library, and Scopus were examined. All English articles published in journals or presented at conferences were included in the study. Nonjournal and irrelevant articles were excluded from the study. Furthermore, papers which were not available as a full text and published in languages other than English were also excluded. Thematic analysis technique was used to analyze the articles.

From 871 documents which captured in initial search, only 7 studies identified as eligible articles for extract 8 coordination models of NGOs in disasters and emergencies including: (1) Sphere project, (2) Cluster approach, (3) Code of conduct, (4) Decentralized approach, (5) National Disaster Response Framework, (6) Conceptual integrated NGO collaboration framework for community postdisaster reconstruction, (7) Model of temporal coordination of disaster response activities, and (8) Collabit application.

This systematic review identified eight proposed coordination models that have been implemented internationally, nationally, and locally in natural hazards. However, these models are not enough, and there are some gaps between what is it and what should be. More effective and efficient models and strategies are needed to increase the effectiveness of coordination activities at all levels of community. These results should serve policy‑makers and administrators of NGOs delivering humanitarian services during and postnatural hazards to choose from a number of options on how to coordinate their efforts.