Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to determine the operational capacity of International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) in response to the humanitarian crisis occasioned by the post-election violence after the 2007 general elections in Kenya. It specifically investigated how the INGOs operating in Kenya responded to the humanitarian crisis occasioned by the flare-up of Post-Election Violence (PEV) after the December 27th 2007 general elections in Kenya. The study was guided by three
Research questions;
i) HOW prepared are the INGOs to deal with humanitarian relief provision in Kenya?
ii) What are the challenges encountered by the INGOs during an emergency response? and
iii) How are the networks with Other agencies and the affected community utilized by INGOs in dealing with humanitarian relief provision in Kenya?
The research design in this study was descriptive in nature. The population of the study comprised of all INGO that provides humanitarian relief service in Kenya. As at July there were a hundred and forty-four INGO registered by Non-Governmental Coordination Board of Kenya. Cluster sampling technique was used to select the 15 INGOs offering services in Rift Valley province. A self-administered questionnaire was prepared, pretested and administered to the respondents. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics using mean with aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The results were presented in tables, charts and bar graphs
This study found that most of the surveyed organizations had some remarkable experience in working in humanitarian crisis but were not well prepared for the PEV emergency. The study further revealed that, most organizations were able to mobilize fast resources required for emergencies operations such as PEV but the PEV was complex and extremely challenging. Challenges included structural, ethnicity, uniqueness of crisis. infrastructure, technological remoteness, security, religious and cultural diversity. The study also found that most of the organizations had advanced networks in the PEV response sites. Finally, it was found that networking made work easier and situation manageable for the operations of the International NGOs involved in the PEV response.
Major conclusions of this study were that for effective operational capacity of NGOs. the following must be put in place. First, NGOs providing humanitarian relief services must he well and fully prepared for the emergency crisis. This preparation must involve prepositioning of sufficient resources. such as personnel, funding etc to initiate and sustain a response. Secondly, there is need to have interagency coordination in mobilization of these resources and with the individual government departments concerned. Lastly, there is need of a well-established network for coordinating assessment. planning and monitoring of activities and dissemination of information.
This study recommends that adequate resources and facilities should mobilized, proper management and laying down Of strategic plans to be adopted during operations involving crisis should be done and humanitarian bodies need to familiarize themselves With possible challenges that may arise in times of crisis.