RAPID: Contribution of Linking Networks in Nepalese Earthquake Response: A Case Study

每次重大灾难发生后，许多公共机构、人道主义组织和其他参与紧急救援行动的机构都会采取措施，以减轻这种极端事件幸存者的痛苦，加强他们的灾后恢复进程，使他们的生活尽快恢复到灾难前的水平。由于各种社会、政治、经济和文化因素，每一次救援行动都面临着独特的挑战，因此，认真审视这种行动，可以为紧急援助的发放者提供宝贵的见解和经验教训。这些见解和经验教训可以帮助公众和其他相关组织为未来自然灾害的幸存者制定有效和有序的救援行动计划。这项快速反应研究(RAPID)研究的结果预计将制定进一步的政策和优先事项，以加强联系网络对尼泊尔以及世界上其他山区和地震多发国家的灾害幸存者的支持。因此，这项研究有可能产生对应对极端自然事件具有变革性价值的政策选择。这项研究旨在调查2015年4月25日尼泊尔发生7.8级大地震后，政府和非政府组织(GO和NGO)作为社会网络成员在紧急救援行动中的表现。这项研究的具体目标是：1)调查政府组织和非政府组织向尼泊尔地震幸存者提供紧急援助的有效性；2)审查政府组织和非政府组织从紧急援助分配中获得的挑战和经验教训；3)确定与地震幸存者对政府组织和非政府组织救援工作有效性的看法有关的因素。这项研究的主要数据来源将来自对居住在尼泊尔农村两个受灾地区的地震幸存者进行的实地调查。将通过制定一项附加综合指数来审查人道主义援助的有效性。本文将采用适当的双变量和多变量技术来实现本研究的目标。这项研究将通过同行评议的期刊论文和在专业会议上的陈述，为灾害和灾害领域做出贡献。此外，这项研究还将有助于涌现出有关社会网络在灾难应对中的作用的文献。

After each major disaster, many public agencies, humanitarian organizations, and others involved in emergency relief operation to reduce sufferings of survivors of such extreme event and enhance their disaster recovery process so that they can return livelihood to pre-disaster levels as quickly as possible. For various social, political, economic, and cultural factors, each relief operation confronts with unique challenges and therefore careful examination of such operation can provide valuable insights and lessons for disbursers of emergency assistance. These insights and lessons can assist both public and other relevant organizations in developing efficient and orderly relief operation plans for survivors of future natural disasters. The findings of this Rapid Response Research (RAPID) study are expected to develop further policies and priorities to enhance linking networks' support of disaster survivors in Nepal as well as other mountainous and earthquake-prone countries of the world. Thus, the study has the potential to produce policy options that can have transformative value for confronting the extreme natural events. This study aims at investigating how well government and nongovernmental organizations (GOs and NGOs), as members of social network, performed emergency relief operations in Nepal after the country struck by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake on April 25, 2015. The specific objectives of this study are to: 1) investigate the effectiveness of emergency aid delivered to earthquake survivors in Nepal by GOs and NGOs, 2) examine challenges and lessons GOs and NGOs learned from emergency aid distribution, and 3) identify the factors associated with earthquake survivors' opinion regarding effectiveness of GOs and NGOs relief efforts. The primary source of data for this study will come from field surveys to be conducted among earthquake survivors living in two affected areas in rural Nepal. Effectiveness of humanitarian aid will be examined by developing an additive composite index. Appropriate bivariate and multivariate techniques will be employed to accomplish the objectives of this study. The research will contribute to hazards and disasters fields through peer-reviewed journal papers and presentation at a profession meeting. Moreover, the research will contribute to the burgeoning literature on the role of social networks in disaster response.