مطالب

INTRODUCTION: Considering the high number of incidents and disasters in Iran and the importance of the issue, this research investigates the challenges and opportunities of people's participation in the implementation of disaster management policies in the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS). METHOD: The research is applied in terms of purpose and mixed in terms of method. In the first stage, structured interviews were conducted with 20 experts and informants in the field of disaster management. Then, data was analyzed through content analysis and open coding, and components of challenges and opportunities were extracted using Maxquda software. Finally, a researcher-made questionnaire for challenges and opportunities based on the findings of the qualitative part was design and its validity and reliability using was confirmed by experts and Cronbach's alpha respectively and were distributed among 365 managers and employees related to disasters. FINDINGS: According to the findings, in the qualitative section, the main challenges include coordination and organization, lack of people’s participation in decision-making, conflict of interests, participation sustainability, level of knowledge and awareness, and resistance to change, as well as the opportunities include increasing efficiency and effectiveness, the use of local knowledge, strengthening the sense of responsibility, communication improvement, cost reduction and strengthening social solidarity. The results of quantitative part, showed that strengthening the sense of responsibility, use of local knowledge and communication improvement with an average of 11.86%, 10.38% and 9.46% respectively of the most important opportunities and conflicts of interest, the level of knowledge and awareness and coordination and organization with an average of 10.43%, 9.37% and 9.35% respectively are the most important challenges. CONCULSION: The results showed that solving the challenges and strengthening the opportunities for people's participation will lead to the success and effectiveness of the implementation of the policies and will lead the society to the direction of prosperity, prevention of wastage of resources, casualties’ reduction and sustainable development. Thus, it is suggested to develop educational programs, strengthen organizational structures, etc. in order to improve people's participation in disaster management.

INTRODUCTION: The Middle East has always been known as a region full of tension and chaos, and especially in the last two decades, it has been involved with all kinds of insecurity, violence, war, terrorism, etc. This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in promoting the culture of peace and cooperation in the Middle East during the period from 2000 to 2022. METHODS: The current research is of a secondary type, which was conducted in the form of a Narrative Review and data with related topics were reviewed and collected from domestic databases such as Magiran, Noormags, SID and RCS, as well as IFRC and ICRC. FINDINGS: The findings of the research indicate that the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has promoted the culture of peace and cooperation in the Middle East countries in various ways, such as: providing health care services, managing war dead bodies with dignity, cash aid to local communities in need and the impoverished, inviting the warring parties to peace and respecting the humanitarian rights of civilians, supporting the human rights of ethnic and religious minorities, helping to provide the minimum essential needs of war refugees, following up and helping to settle war-affected immigrants, dealing with the affairs of prisoners and prisoners of war, trying to find missing people, dealing with the separation of families and missing children, providing clean water and food packages for the people, and encouraging the activists of the conflicts to avoid mistreatment of detainees, not to use chemical, biological, nuclear weapons and mines, and to avoid attacking civilians. CONCLUSION: The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement with all its elements and components (such as International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and National Societies of Red Crescent and Red Cross) has tried to be effective in political stability and promoting peace and cooperation between political and social groups in the Middle East countries by protecting the life and dignity of war victims and helping the injured as well as reducing violence and terrorism, and play a role in creating reconciliation between "inherent human dignity" and "military necessity".