Article
Challenges in Humanitarian Information Management and Exchange: Evidence from Haiti Response
Disasters
(2014)
Abstract
There is a growing recognition of the critical role information management can play in shaping
effective humanitarian response, coordination and decision-making. Quality information, reaching
more humanitarian actors, will result in better coordination and better decision-making, thus
improving the response to beneficiaries as well as accountability to donors. The humanitarian
response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake marked a watershed moment for humanitarian information
management. Yet the fragmented nature of the response and the use of hierarchical models
of information management, along with other factors, have led some observers to label the
Haiti response a failure. Using an analytical framework often found in humanitarian emergencies,
this study analyses challenges to information flow in the Haiti case and the implications
for effective humanitarian response. It concludes by offering possible paths for overcoming such
challenges, and for restoring the value and utility of humanitarian information management and
exchange in humanitarian relief settings.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2014
DOI
10.1111/disa.12052
Citation Information
Nezih Altay and Melissa T. Labonte. "Challenges in Humanitarian Information Management and Exchange: Evidence from Haiti Response" Disasters Vol. 38 Iss. S1 (2014) p. S50 - S72 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nezih_altay/23/