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The purpose of this paper is to review the nature of Japanese non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in international disaster response and analyzes their distinctive characteristics.

A literature review was conducted of secondary English and Japanese sources including peer-reviewed journals, books, and non-academic journals published by government and NGOs.

First, Japanese disaster response NGOs are relatively young compared to Western ones and they continue to increase in number. Second, the scale of disaster response NGOs is much larger than that of other NGOs in the development field not only because of the availability of government funds but also because of the presence of internationally affiliated NGOs and religious-based organisations with strong fundraising programs. Third, Japanese disaster response NGOs have a long-term engagement with the local community, not only during the emergency phase, but also during the recovery and development phases in various fields. Finally, coordination NGOs play an important role in networking, advocating and supplementing NGOs that often lack financial and human resources.

The limitation of this study is the definition of Japanese NGOs in the context of international disaster response; therefore, this paper adopts MOFA’s definition, which includes NGOs engaged in overseas activities through direct intervention.

There has been little research in English on the scale and nature of Japanese NGOs involved in disaster response activities.

The paper aims to discuss the findings of a humanitarian logistics manager field study on response activity concerning the 2004 tsunami disaster in terms of what should have occurred and to present a comprehensive hindsight‐analysis case for a model placing natural disaster response activity clearly within the context of local‐nation‐led, holistic and inclusive natural disaster planning.

The qualitative testing of a conceptual framework of natural‐disaster response requirements through interviews with tsunami‐response logistics managers, the analysis of the findings in the light of tsunami‐hindsight “effective disaster management” themes of recent academic literature and multi‐agency reports and the development of the holistic, inclusive planning model.

That natural disaster response activity needs to be viewed holistically in the context of a disaster management planning continuum that ideally starts well before the response action is required and of which locally‐led inclusiveness is a crucial component.

The model needs to be tested for its applicability as a planning instrument and guide for response activity in the context of future natural disasters.

The holistic/inclusive planning model has been developed to guide natural disaster planners as well as add to academic discourse in the search for natural disaster management solutions.

The study is original with its field‐based qualitative research foundation and reflective hindsight analysis.

When a major landslide and floods devastated Freetown, Sierra Leone had just overcome the Ebola crisis, which had left its mark on socio-political relations between different disaster response actors. With international disaster response frameworks increasingly shifting to local ownership, the national government was expected to assume a coordinating role. However, in “post-conflict” settings such as Sierra Leone, intra-state and state–society relations are continuously being renegotiated. This study aimed to uncover the complexities of state-led disaster response in hybrid governance setting at national and community levels in the response to the 2017 landslide and floods.

During the four months of fieldwork in Freetown in 2017, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with various state, aid and societal actors were conducted.

The findings show that a response to policy building on the idea of a uniform state response did not take into account intra-state power politics or the complexity of Sierra Leone's hybrid governance.

This paper argues for a more nuanced debate in humanitarian governance and practice on the localisation of aid in post-conflict and fragile settings.

The study's findings contribute to the literature on the disaster–conflict nexus, identifying paradoxes of localised disaster response in an environment with strong national–local tensions. The study highlights intra-local state dynamics that are usually overlooked but have a great impact on the legitimacy of different state authorities in disaster response.

Following a large-scale disaster, medical assistance is a critical component of the emergency response. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Academic and practitioner literature is used to develop a framework studying the effectiveness of the humanitarian medical supply chain (HMSC). The framework is validated by using the findings of interviews conducted with experts and the case study of a serious humanitarian medical crisis (Ebola outbreak in 2014).

The factors affecting the effectiveness of the HMSC are identified.

To get an expert opinion on the major logistical challenges of the medical assistance in emergencies only 11 interviews with practitioners were conducted.

While the existing academic literature discusses the distribution of various supplies needed by the affected population, limited research focuses specifically on studying the HMSC aspect of the response. This paper closes this gap by describing the HMSC in the case of disaster response, and identifying the factors affecting its effectiveness, especially focusing on the factors that are unique to the medical aspect of the humanitarian supply chain.

As the end of the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction approaches it is necessary to review what is known about global responses to catastrophes. Discusses four major weaknesses of the relief and mitigation community that are frequently identified in the disaster studies literature: the violation of human rights, a low degree of relief co‐ordination, difficulties and drawbacks of providing aid, and dilemmas of development. Offers possible solutions for these challenges and also highlights the implications of the findings for research and application. Gives direction to both academics and practitioners who are interested in disaster relief and prevention around the world.

The research areas of humanitarian supply chain (HSC) and disaster and humanitarian operations (DHO) have evolved through the use of managerial models. Recent studies, however, point to the need for the empirical validation of such managerial models in real-life scenarios. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the validation of recent managerial models based on empirical data of two disasters in Haiti: the earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

This research developed two case studies from the perspective of the Brazilian Navy (BN), a part of the Brazilian Armed Forces that led the United Nations Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in both disasters. The case studies focused on empirically validating managerial models for stakeholder identification, stakeholder satisfaction, response processes, strategies for collaboration and the integration of these models.

The results revealed that compared to the response to the earthquake in 2010, the response to Hurricane Matthew in 2016 was superior. The collaborative strategies of the BN and other stakeholders used after the earthquake were more reactive, while the strategies after Hurricane Matthew aimed more at planning and anticipating adverse situations.

This research reinforces the investigated managerial models and indicates their suitability as planning tools for practitioners of HSC and DHO, which is essential for the further development of academic contributions related to integrating the models into more robust solutions.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the role of local communities in responding to crises and disasters. The paper highlights that most communities have their own mechanisms of dealing with uncertainties and dangers produced by disasters. The paper acknowledges that most disaster response and disaster risk reduction (DDR) organisations advocate to work with local communities and most seek to build the capacity of these communities.

The authors draw on a series of case studies gathered together with their experience over the past decade of working with both local communities that have been affected by disasters and international organisations involved in DDR and humanitarian responses.

This paper concludes that whilst international institutions continue to make attempts at building the capacity of local communities they need to seek to work collaboratively with local communities. International institutions must ultimately learn from them and build their own capacity for developing context specific and effective DDR strategies and disaster responses.

This paper offers local case studies that give a rare insight into some of the ways local communities deal with disasters and view international responses to disasters and conflicts. This paper demonstrates the role of local communities in building the capacity of international institutions for DDR.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of international law in disaster prevention and management, with a particular focus on the emerging field of international disaster law (IDL), and its relationship with international human rights law. It further introduces the four articles of the special column of this journal issue, dedicated to disasters and international law.

The analysis is based upon primary sources of legislation and policy, as well as academic literature on disasters and international law.

Although the field of IDL is in its infancy, the authors argue that this emergent area does have the potential to gain widespread recognition as a distinct field of law, and that this may benefit the wider disaster management community.

The paper introduces key legal features and themes relating to international law and disasters, highlighting their relevance for disaster management. The added value is to widen the discussion on aspects of disasters regulated by international law, thus facilitating the future exchange with other academic subjects and operational fields.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a game-like decision tool – “Greatest Good Donations Calculator (GGDC)”, which has been collaboratively developed by scholars from the University of Rhode Island and the USAID Center for International Disaster Information.

The study is grounded in two streams of research – human learning through games and systems dynamics literature. The problem of “unsolicited in-kind donations” is discussed followed by the development of the GGDC.

The GGDC is a game-like decision tool that informs users on some of the complexities associated with humanitarian supply chains, and the ineffective nature of unsolicited in-kind donations compared to monetary contributions when sent in response to international disasters.

The GGDC could be made more interactive and playable that could improve user engagement. The GGDC’s value to the humanitarian community and public could also be measured in other ways, such as surveys and A/B split tests after a major donation campaign.

Games, simulations and game-like tools could successfully be used to educate donors about smart compassion.

Humanitarian researchers and scholars should consider more games to motivate/drive social change in the humanitarian world.

This is the first paper to introduce the GGDC to the humanitarian logistics community with detailed content about positioning the study in the academic literature, and stages of development. Scholars, searching to adopt games or developing new games for the humanitarian world may find the information valuable. The GGDC is a unique example of federal government – academia collaboration in raising public awareness of the unsolicited good donations problem.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges inherent in planning and responding to disaster events in a multi-agency context where numerous governmental and non-governmental actors and agencies are involved in the planning and response phases. In particular, the authors examine a situation where a lead agency has recently been delegated the responsibility for emergency relief logistics and how it might determine and implement best practice.

Adopting an iterative inductive approach, the authors gather data and insights from academic literature, emergency management policies, frameworks and documents and exploratory in-depth interviews with 12 key informants who have considerable experience with the challenges of logistic preparation and response to disasters in a developed country context. The data and context are limited to developed counties, especially the state of Queensland, Australia.

The authors discuss the challenge of achieving coordinated supply chain management where mandated/lead response agencies are required to meet stakeholder and local community expectations and outcomes. From these findings, the authors offer 11 practical recommendations to assist the delivery of best practice in emergency logistics.

Humanitarian logistics is usually examined from a low/middle-income country perspective, yet an efficient and effective disaster response is no less important for developed economies. In this respect, the authors offer a fresh examination of the challenges of delivering best practice for emergency logistics in order to achieve expected community outcomes.