Information management for humanitarian aid distribution system in Malaysia

Abstract

Effective information management is one of the key success factors in managing the humanitarian aid distribution process during and post disasters and it depends on how much, how accurate, and how reliable the available information is. However, there are several key issues that need attention, such as redundancy of information about the disaster and fraudulent reports that could be retrieved by malicious persons which can have negative effects on the humanitarian aid distribution process. This paper aims to investigate the current practices of the information management system used by disaster management stakeholders in Malaysia during a natural disaster. Eighteen participants were interviewed to find out about their current strategies or plans for managing information during a natural disaster. Findings revealed that there is no information management process or protocol for non-government organizations (NGOs) requesting and receiving information on humanitarian aid. Conclusions are drawn about proposing a new information management process or protocol in the humanitarian aid distribution process.