Uncertainty and Information Flows in Humanitarian Agencies

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3898568
AutoresAldo A Benini, Aldo Benini (California Polytechnic State University, autor de correspondencia)
Año1997
Volumen21
Número4
Páginas335-353
Fecha de publicación1997-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDisasters (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0361-3666 • E-ISSN: 1467-7717
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-7717.00066
PMID9455006
OpenAlexW2057799347
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8

Humanitarian agencies struggle with high uncertainty. The focus here is on uncertainty that grows out of the internal complexity of the agencies themselves, rather than simply emanating from their war-ridden environments. This is illustrated with a study of uncertainty management and information processing in two UN agencies working for the victims of the conflict in southern Sudan. Data from 1995 relief distributions are used to simulate aspects of uncertainty; paradoxically, uncertainty increased with growing success of the relief operation. The finding is in tune with observations from the same region that Jok (1996) reported in this journal. While uncertainty may remain difficult to reduce, co-operation among agencies and public confidence in their work provide functional equivalents for certainty

Business · Certainty · Operations research · Political science · Risk analysis (engineering · Work (physics · Computer Science · Engineering · Mathematics · Peacebuilding and International Security · Mechanical Engineering