Summary

The findings suggest that volunteering plays a tangible role in all stages of disaster management. However, despite the values of volunteerism being rooted in Sudanese society and the wide-ranging national capabilities of Sudan, there are many obstacles facing volunteerism in the context of disaster management. These include overlapping institutional mandates, the scarcity of financing and the lack of evidence-based decision-making. Another key obstacle is the lack of clarity in the partnership schemes among donors, civil society organizations and beneficiaries, which can lead to exploitation of the circumstances of beneficiaries. There is a need for a clearly defined three-way partnership scheme with the involvement of the State. Another critical obstacle is the poor coordination among key players in charge of disaster management setups, which leads to a lack of trust and limits the exchange of information.

The research provides governments and other actors working on disaster management with new evidence and recommendations on how to effectively engage with volunteers and build their capacity for the disaster management cycle, including mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.