Miss Emma Higginbotham

Research project: Localisation of aid: Shifting power to the communities by removing the hierarchy in post-disaster shelter reconstruction

Abstract

My PhD project aims to explore the lived experiences of international humanitarian organisations, local NGO's and communities in post-disaster shelter reconstruction and examine the opinions of participation and power distribution of the three groups stated above. The project will also examine the feasibility of localisation in post-disaster shelter reconstruction. A qualitative study will be undertaken in order to examine and investigate the aims of the project and the qualitative methodology will be constructive grounded theory. Purposive sampling will be used to recruit participants from international and local NGOs and members of the community. Semi-structured interviews will be undertaken to collect the necessary data for this project. This project has the capacity to enhance current knowledge on how communities rebuild and recover after a disaster and investigate one of the main barriers, power, that inhibits localisation. The study also has the capacity to also inform humanitarian organisation on community recovery.