A PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH TO DISASTER RELIEF MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF NEPAL EARTHQUAKE 2015

Abstract

The occurrence of natural disasters may not be entirely preventable, but the effective management of damage mitigation and immediate relief operations is vital to reduce the devastating lasting impacts on vulnerable societies. With the increasing severity and impact of natural catastrophes, especially in geographical disaster-prone regions, it is crucial for strategic disaster relief management to be as structured and effective as possible to tackle the chaos that ensues following a disaster. The use of fundamental Project Management principles remains in the construction or manufacturing industry, where tangible and concrete deliverables are practicable. The field of humanitarian aid, on the other hand, can be differentiated by the greater focus on social and human development, making deliverables more difficult to accurately quantify. Keeping in mind the highly uncertain and volatile nature of relief operations, the relevance and need for the use of Project Management principles in the field of humanitarian aid will be explored in greater detail throughout this dissertation. This dissertation seeks to propose a simple yet comprehensive set of structured guidelines for newer and smaller Non-Governmental Organizations to utilize in the formation of their relief management strategies. This dissertation will have a predominant emphasis on the immediate relief management following natural disasters, with a specific focus on the case study of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occured between Pokhara and Kathmandu, Nepal on 25 April 2017 and 12 May 2017.