Norhazlina Fairuz’s research while affiliated with National Defence University of Malaysia and other places

Introduction: Health needs assessment (HNA) following a disaster is a systematic method to review the health issues facing the population affected by the disaster. It leads to an agreed priorities and appropriate resource allocation that will improve the health of the affected population. For HNA to be accurate, it must be deployed within days or even hours after the disaster as the health response team who are initially using their resources in the search and rescue (SAR) efforts, will start to shift their health response to all victims that has survived the initial impact of the disaster. Methods: A qualitative research methodology with single case study design was utilized to explore HNA during disaster which included in-depth interview (IDI) with representatives from the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH) and the health services of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Data were analysed using ATLAS.ti v23 software. Results: The IDI with MOH and MAF health services representatives highlighted a very good understanding of HNA post urban disasters even though MOH had limited protocols in doing so. However, the MAF representative highlighted that one of the reasons HNA was not done is, due to the multiple structure of commands that complicates the management during disasters. According to them, a single authority in managing disasters is better and which will make HNA a priority and hence will be implemented well in all disasters. Both the civilian and military health agencies had very good understanding and vast experience in post disaster health management even without performing a proper HNA. Conclusion: The challenges faced during past disasters has shown the importance of HNA in managing health of the affected population post disasters and should be recommended by the relevant authorities.

This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Water is essential for all living things. But water also prone to the risk of water related disaster which is not a new phenomenon that happened worldwide including Malaysia. Despite disasters always associated with natural catastrophe, disaster can be classified into three categories namely natural, man-made and hybrid disasters. Notwithstanding the category of disasters, the impact of it would cause loss of lives, damage to property or the environment as well as affecting the daily activities of local community. Therefore, this research aims to identify the issues related to water related disaster among community in Raub, Pahang, examine the level of knowledge that affects community preparedness and awareness, community participation and empowerment of the community in creating resiliency towards water related disasters, and finally to propose a framework of community resiliency to water related disasters in Raub, Pahang. In achieving the objectives, qualitative research methods were adopted using face to face interview and qualitative online survey using semi structured interview protocols. This research found that past and present experience by the community had imparted a good understanding of water scarcity among the community in Raub. However, their preparedness level to be independent in dealing with the risk of water scarcity is still low as they had few constraints to establish a more structured water scarcity management system with less dependence on the government's assistance.

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) become important part of Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW) that has been emphasized in Malaysian's Defence White Paper. HADR causes severe life losses, severely impact on economy, health, well-being, and environment. The main critical issue in deployment of HADR operation is the absence of technology attributes where it unable to achieve HADR resilience. Natural disasters are uncertain and unpredictable where they have been understood as part of a non-traditional security agenda. Recently, ASEAN countries have paid greater attention to HADR as a non-traditional security issue due to the tenacious devastation. Most HADR executions in ASEAN are lacking communications, situational awareness and emerging technologies in the context of Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0. A qualitative research method on focus groups in ASEAN's HADR is used to generate discussion using framework analysis inclusive with thematic analysis to draw insights on technology demands.

A successful disaster response requires great coordination between the military and rescue aid agencies to minimize casualties and losses suffered by victims. The collaboration between agencies and the military during a disaster response needs to consider the issues of coordination, communication, and roles responsibilities in order to ensure that disaster response operations are well-structured and prevent duplication of task. In addition, the findings of the study also show that community awareness factors also influence the effectiveness during disaster response activities. Response to disasters requires an understanding of the factors that affect civil-military coordination. In order to accomplish the research objectives, a sample size of ten respondents was selected for the qualitative research method. Interviews were conducted with ten representatives from each agency involved in Disaster response in Kuala Lumpur. However, thematic network analysis and narration and observation were used for data analysis. The study found that each of the identified elements greatly influenced the effectiveness of civilian-military coordination during disaster response operations. This study contributes to equipping the agencies and the military to respond to disasters systematically.

Several major disasters have struck the country namely the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and the 2014 Flood which incapacitated the responding agencies during search and rescue operations triggering a civil-military response. Natural disasters and emerging hazards such as terrorism, biological hazards, radioactive and hazardous materials pose a threat especially in urban areas which requires a rapid and complex civil-military response and coordination. Thus, the aim of this narrative review was to explore gaps in the National Security Council Directive No. 20 and an overview of civil-military coordination of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) Response in Malaysia, Thailand and Japan. Literature on civil-military response to disasters from various sources available online was obtained and reviewed for this paper. Results from the review highlights the importance of proposing a policy paper based on case studies and best practices from Thailand and Japan which can be adapted to enhance the civil-military response mechanism for HADR in Malaysia.

This paper highlights the importance of integrating local and people based knowledge in the process of need assessment (NA). Need assessment is the first step conducted in any post disaster area to estimate what kind assistances required and needed by the victims to help overcome the lost and to alleviate the traumatic experience. This study analyses the impact of people knowledge on the quality of need assessment conducted in Aceh after 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami. The research was conducted in post tsunami reconstruction in Aceh to analyses the effective integration of people and local knowledge in the planning and implementation of programs and projects in post tsunami reconstruction phase. The method of the study was snowballing technic with the assistance of key informants in Aceh, Indonesia. There were 30 respondents from Banda Aceh and 30 respondents from West Aceh. The findings show some significant relations between integration of people and local knowledge in the NA process in post disaster. This helps the actors involved in the rehabilitation and reconstruction programs and project to design, plan and implement to cater the need of the beneficiaries and the affected communities. Keywords—need assessment, recovery assessment local knowledge, people knowledge, tsunami, multi sectorial development

This study examined the effectiveness of Permanent Housing Reconstruction (PHR) in the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation (RR) phase that had a significant effect on the socioeconomic climate of affected communities (ACs). This research was based on 60 respondents from Banda Aceh and West Aceh, which was the two most tsunami affected region including beneficiaries from the local administration offices, the local NGOs and INGOs, and the local affected communities. PHR was the only project in this phase that gave ACs a sense of ownership and legitimate participation through Komiter Perumahan Rakyat (KPR), a local housing committee selected due to its trustworthiness and transparency to monitor contractors with the assistance of INGOs. However, the findings show that PHR experienced many problems such as the lack of human capital, resources and skills in Aceh had attracted an influx of contractors from Medan Sumatra. This issue indirectly effect the quality of the PHR depriving the ACs of good socioeconomic and livelihood sustainability due to lack of coordination and instant spending of the tsunami fund. Issues such as pattern of foreign employment caused funding to flow out of the region into other areas, depriving the local market of sustainable business activity. These obstacles eventually affected ACs' long-term ownership of their houses. This chain of problems kept them vulnerable to disaster, which later affected their capacity building (CB) and livelihood sustainability. This paper discusses the issues, problems and challenges faced by the main stakeholders such as the beneficiaries representing ACs, local government and INGOs in PHR.

his paper intends to analyse the relations and challenges facing non-state actor in developing and rebuilding post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia. The main objective of this paper was to look at the different challenges facing various government and non- government stakeholders during the reconstruction and rehabilitation (RR) process in redeveloping and rebuilding post disaster areas. The second objective of the paper was to examine the effects on capacity building via participatory development. The roles of civil society organisations like INGOs and NGOs as programmes implemented in post disaster development promise rapid and better solution depending on cooperation and coordination between state and non-state actors. However, the level of participation from the affected communities as beneficiaries of the programmes and projects has strong effect on their capacity building in development phase. In regard to this, the focus of the paper is to examine the effect of participation of beneficiaries in the programmes as means of empowerment toward to capacity building. The outcome of RR programmes relates closely on level of beneficiaries participation. The levels of participation also determine whether the programmes had been successfully carried out to ensure smooth transition into developmental phase. Beside participation effort from the beneficiaries collaboration and coordination between NGOs and government agencies is crucially important factor in determining effective programmes outcomes. The combination of aid and support from international agencies such as donors and NGOs and good coordination from government agencies (Agencies for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction) are needed to encourage higher participation level, which will empower the beneficiaries’ capacity building toward community capability in the developmental phase. The paper will focus on the theoretical and conceptual explanation linking the relationship between participatory approach in development and the outcomes of programmes and projects in developmental phase and its effects of capacity building. The second part of this paper will focus on the outcome from programs and projects in Emergency relief and recovery phase (ERR) and reconstruction and rehabilitation (RR) phase in Aceh Indonesia after the December 2004 Tsunami. The discussions of this paper were heavily based on empirical finding of actual outcomes of these two phase of Post Tsunami Reconstruction (PTR) in Aceh extracted from data collections in the developmental phase (2009-2013).