Evaluation of disaster response management in Iraq resulting from terrorism

Since 2003, Iraq has been experiencing an unprecedented series of disasters; both human made and natural, and this has given rise to increased attention by policymakers to the country's arrangements for disaster management. Disaster response, which refers to actions “taken immediately before, during, or directly after an emergency occurs, to save lives [and] minimise damage to property” is one of the critical phases in the Disaster Management life cycle. The focus of this study is on disaster response management associated with the events caused by terrorism activities in Iraq. The study analyses and evaluates the basic functions of disaster management operations (planning, organising, directing, controlling); these are presented as weaknesses, strengths and recommendations, which are identified for effective disaster response management. This research adopts a single holistic case study approach, where the Iraqi General Directorate of Civil Defence is the case study and disaster response management is the unit of analysis. The Iraqi General Directorate of Civil Defence is considered as the critical case for this study as they are the main administrative body responsible for responding to disasters stemming from terrorism in Iraq. A mixed methods approach is used to improve the validity and reliability of the research. As such, the findings are based on semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys with executives responsible for disaster response in the Iraqi General Directorate of Civil Defence. In addition, a documentary review of all major documents related to disaster response management in this directorate is undertaken. Conceptual content analysis is used to articulate the primary data and this is then analysed in the context of the secondary data, by conducting cross analysis between the four different stages of disaster response management. The findings show that disaster response management is a significantly important stage in the disaster management cycle, as an efficient and effective response will ultimately minimise the loss of life and damage to property. Whilst there are some weaknesses and limited implementation of several elements of good practice in disaster response management in the current disaster response practices, there are some strengths which should be built upon. The final recommendations are made up of eleven sets of different themes, based on findings from both the secondary and primary data. This study contributes to the scarce literature currently published on the subject of disaster response management in developing countries, such as Iraq. The uniqueness of such studies could be attributed to the very limited attempts that have been made in the past to explore disaster response management, possibly due to the difficulty in collecting data around terrorism activities. The practical contribution of this study is the potential improvement of the current disaster response practices and the systems of disaster response management, which will ultimately minimise the loss of life and damage to property. The recommendations proposed in this study could potentially improve the immediate response system to serve Iraq’s disaster management in the future