Factors Influencing Post-disaster Reconstruction Project Management for Housing Provision in the Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestinian Territories

According to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), disasters represent “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources” (UNISDR 2009, p. 9). A post-disaster reconstruction context is therefore invariably complex and unpredictable (von Meding et al. 2016). Its functioning diverges significantly from routine scenarios and represents a challenge for decision makers, practitioners, and communities (Chang et al. 2010, 2011).

Post-disaster reconstruction is often considered from a project management perspective (Hidayat and Egbu 2010; Ismail et al. 2014; von Meding et al. 2014; Chang-Richards et al. 2017). The Project Management Institute (1987) considers a project as a unique transient endeavor undertaken to achieve a desired outcome. A project can also be a vehicle of change, including a defined scope, that needs to be delivered in a defined time and at an agreed cost (Geraldi et al. 2008). Project management can also be described as a set of models and techniques for the planning and control of complex undertakings (Packendorff 1995), or the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities and to meet project requirements (Moe and Pathranarakul 2006).

Project management applied in post-disaster reconstruction is commonly known as post-disaster reconstruction project management (PDRPM) (Moe and Pathranarakul 2006). Similar to project management, PDRPM intends to produce unique products, so no project before or after will be exactly the same; to use a novel process, so no project before or after will use exactly the same approach; and, to be transient, so the project has a beginning and an end (Moe and Pathranarakul 2006). Barriers to implementation continue to emerge in PDRPM with regard to collaboration, consistency, quality, and accountability of projects (Project Management Institute 2005; Chang-Richards et al. 2017).

Conflict is considered a frequent driver of disasters (Meyers 1991). Conflicts challenge everyday life by killing, injuring, and displacing people, disrupting settlements, infrastructure, and livelihoods, and leading to long-term impacts on the economy, politics, and wider society (Sakalasuriya et al. 2016). Conflicts also erode governance institutions, weaken public expenditure management systems, and increase transaction costs (Anand 2005; Fengler et al. 2008). Post-conflict settings pose challenges for governments and communities that need to be rebuilt while maintaining stability and working towards lasting peace. The reconstruction of countries affected by conflict is a major challenge (Seneviratne et al. 2017) that is often managed both by the internal governments and external actors (Sakalasuriya et al. 2016).

Against this background, this article discusses PDRPM for housing in an area exposed to cycles of violence—the Gaza Strip, within the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The Gaza Strip consists of five governorates: North, Gaza, Middle, Khan Yunis, and Rafah (UNEP 2009). It is located at the southwestern end of the OPT, with a length of 41 km and a width ranging from 6 to 12 km, covering a total area of 360 km² (Fig. 1). The Gaza Strip has a total population of 1,588,691, with a 3.3% annual increase in population (Enshassi et al. 2015). Housing provision has always been challenging in the Gaza Strip (Barakat et al. 2004). After the July 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, also known as Operation Protective Edge, for example, more than 90,000 homes in the city of Gaza were damaged or destroyed, and one in four inhabitants (over 100,000 people) was internally displaced (Barakat and Shaban 2015). Public services were devastated, leading to scarcity of water, sanitation, energy, food, and shelter. This has exacerbated the impact of systematic violations of human rights in the area. Before these military operations, 80% of the residents in Gaza were already dependent on aid, 47% were food insecure, and 40% were unemployed (Barakat and Shaban 2015). An already vulnerable population was therefore further compromised, and the impacts on women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities were amplified. Agriculture, industry, and trade came to a standstill. Significant environmental damages occurred, such as loss of biodiversity and the contamination and degradation of land, water, and air due to toxic substances (UNDP 2014). In addition, a long-term blockade imposed by Israel has prevented inhabitants from accessing 35% of farmland and 85% of fishing waters, and reduced exports by 97%. After the overthrow of Muhammad Morsi in Egypt in July 2013, the tightening of restrictions along the Gaza Strip/Egypt border brought further political and economic isolation (Barakat and Shaban 2015).

In the Gaza Strip, PDRPM for housing provision is therefore a contentious issue. This article creates space for the discussion of key related factors based on the perceptions of organizations involved in PDRPM in the area. The article aims to identify, rank, and discuss these factors according to their relative importance index. The following literature review on factors that influence PDRPM is organized into six main categories. We then explain the questionnaire survey method we chose for the study and present the findings according to the most significant factors as ranked within each group, and recommend a baseline for future studies in the Gaza Strip.

A range of scholars have investigated the numerous factors that come into play and exert a positive or negative influence on PDRPM for housing provision (Moe and Pathranarakul 2006; Chang et al. 2010, 2011; Hidayat and Egbu 2010; Ismail et al. 2014; Bilau and Witt 2016; Bilau et al. 2017). For the purpose of this article, six principal groups of factors that influence PDRPM for housing provision were identified (Fig. 2). The factors included in each group tend to interact, inform, and influence each other. An overview of these groups of factors is presented and discussed below.

A questionnaire survey (Fink 2003) was designed to collect the required data based on the six suggested groups of PDRPM factors. The survey was administered in September 2014 as a consolidated research approach used for the assessment of factors that influence the construction sector in the Gaza Strip (Enshassi et al. 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015). The research gathered survey responses focusing on the main factors that influence PDRPM as perceived by different stakeholders in 2013–2014. It explored in detail the context of multilevel organizations within the Gaza Strip.

Ninety-seven (97) factors were initially identified for the questionnaire and then divided into the six aforementioned groups of factors that influence PDRPM for housing provision. A pilot study was conducted in the Gaza Strip in October 2014 by distributing the questionnaire to two panels of experts with experience in related research fields, in order to evaluate the questionnaire and test its validity. The first panel consisted of 10 experts—3 experts from different governmental organizations, 3 experts from the Gaza Strip municipalities, and 4 from United Nations (UN) organizations and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). This panel was asked to verify the validity of the questionnaire topic and its relevance to the research objectives. The second panel consisted of 2 experts in statistics, who were asked to verify that the instrument used was statistically valid, and that the questionnaire was designed well enough to allow relationships to be observed and tests to be conducted among factors. Comments and suggestions by experts were collected and evaluated carefully. At the end of this process, modifications and additions were introduced into the final survey instrument, which proceeded with a total of 80 factors. A clear distinction between factors within and across the six groups is not always possible and overlaps do exist. Therefore, some of the factors have been simplified for the sake of synthesis.

The research population was primarily identified based on experience and knowledge of PDRPM in the Gaza Strip. The research population consisted of governmental organizations, municipalities, UN organizations, and international and local NGOs involved in PDRPM. The groups contained in the population include:

The selected governmental organizations are primarily responsible for interventions in PDRPM such as providing goods, organizing the procedural chain for sheltering and housing evacuees, establishing and allocating funding, and technical expertise. Municipalities were selected because they suffer the most severe burdens of conflicts and provide deep expertise and knowledge of context and site-specific factors that influence PDRPM. The UN organizations and international NGOs selected represent key organizations with responsibility in this particular PDRPM context. Local NGOs were among those most involved in cooperation with governmental institutions in providing shelter and primary goods to the affected communities, as well as coordinating community involvement in PDRPM.

One-hundred (100) questionnaires were administered to staff members in the selected population, utilizing convenience sampling (Babbie 1990), and 81 valid responses were received. The high response rate indicates an acceptable sample bias and suggests that the findings have the potential to be generalized to the larger population. A five-point Likert scale was employed in the questionnaire where the respondents were required to select and circle the most appropriate number of the response scale (1 = not important; 2 = of little importance; 3 = somewhat important; 4 = important; and 5 = very important). The rationale of a Likert scale is the attitude (opinion), which varies on a bi-polar continuum from negative to positive (Johns 2010; Holt 2014). The data resulting from the use of the response scale are analyzed by using the relative importance index (RII) method, which is considered a suitable research method for investigating attitude data (Holt 2014). Subsequently, the RII for each factor was calculated using the following equation:where “w” is the score given to each factor by the respondent, ranging from 1 to 5; n₁ = number of respondents for not important; n₂ = number of respondents for little importance; n₃ = number of respondents for somewhat important; n₄ = number of respondents for important; n₅ = number of respondents for very important. “A” is the highest score (that is 5 in the research) and “N” is the total number of responses. The RII ranges from 0 to 1 (Le and Tam 2007; Enshassi et al. 2013).

The structural validity of the questionnaire was tested by measuring the correlation coefficient between each group against all the factors of the questionnaire. The p-values (significance) were all less than 0.05, and the Spearman correlation coefficients of all the groups are significant at α = 0.05, so the groups of factors are reasonably valid to measure what they set out to.

Cronbach’s Alpha test was then applied to the scouting sample for measuring the consistency of the questionnaire. This test is designed as a measure of internal consistency to determine whether all items within the instrument measure the same thing. Cronbach’s Alpha equals 0.944 for the six groups, indicating excellent reliability. Therefore, the tests conducted on a scouting sample demonstrated that the questionnaire was valid, reliable, and ready for distribution in the population.

This section reports the results for the final 80 factors, themed according to the six groups of factors that influence PDRPM (see Fig. 2). The findings are presented in six tables. Each table reports the mean values, RII, and the ranks of the overall groups of factors and individual factors influencing PDRPM in the Gaza Strip. The two most significant factors in each group are discussed in depth. For all tables, the p value is significant when α = 0.05.

The findings revealed that in four out of the six investigated groups, the most important factors that influence PDRPM for housing provision in the Gaza Strip are associated with funding. Without adequate funding, PDRPM cannot take place in the Gaza Strip, where ongoing conflict causes violence, long-term blockade, and market restrictions with a perennial scarcity of resources and a widespread dependence on humanitarian support. These issues undermine the local capacity of institutions, the market, and communities to undertake PDRPM in an effective way and to promote a more sustainable and long-term housing provision (Fengler et al. 2008; Barakat 2009).

The findings also revealed that the “Speed of delivery in cash-based approaches” is important in housing approaches. Rapid delivery can provide beneficiaries with a return to everyday life in conditions of relative safety and comfort without a long waiting period. In the same vein, “Sufficient funding” is also important within organization behavior. Funding allow organizations to exist, to run their operations, and to build solid internal structures and governance mechanisms. However, “Financial constraints” challenge project funding. Solving such constraints would allow organizations to undertake their own projects and maintain long-term vision, objectives, and schedules. Hence, to effectively operate in the Gaza Strip, organizations need sufficient funding that is efficiently and transparently distributed, and is aligned with organizations’ goals. This requires clarity about organizations’ objectives, effective coordination between funding sources and organizations, and a careful administration of funding receipt and distribution (Jha et al. 2010).

The importance of “Availability of donor funding” was revealed within the PDRPM context. Given the dependence of PDRPM in the Gaza Strip on international donor aid, respondents weighted donor funding as the most important contextual factor. However, in the Gaza Strip, projects are often tailored to serve the interests of donors rather than to address the actual local needs (Qarmout and Béland 2012). This often leads to unrealistic and out-of-context expectations by donors (Schiavo-Campo 2003), and to a lack of involvement of the recipient stakeholders (such as governments and communities). Engaging recipients of aid in a rigorous and conscious capacity-building program is recommended in order to emphasize the need to think long term among governments and communities. This should be done using realistic and transparent procedures, while promoting local voices and perspectives (Schiavo-Campo 2003; Barakat 2009; Barakat et al. 2009; Barakat and Shaban 2015).

This article explored factors that influence PDRPM for housing provision in the Gaza Strip, which is affected by recurrent and systematic conflict. The article aimed at identifying and ranking these factors according to their relative importance from the perspective of multiscale governments and organizations involved in PDRPM. A questionnaire was administered to a representative sample of individuals working in governmental institutions, municipalities, international and local NGOs, as well as UN organizations operating in PDRPM in the Gaza Strip. Findings revealed that issues associated with funding are the most important factors. Funding availability or shortage can greatly contribute either to promote or reduce the capacity of organizations to implement housing projects.

We must reflect on how funding should be channelled to, managed, and allocated into a post-conflict context such as the Gaza Strip. Establishing clear and solid mechanisms to track how funding is utilized by organizations and to coordinate distribution is critical if we are to meet priorities and to enhance the capacities of organizations for prompt, adequate, and transparent housing provision (Barakat and Shaban 2015). In the Gaza Strip, housing provision should be considered not just in terms of buildings, but also with regard to environmental and social risk reduction. Residents already face everyday constraints, and the lack of access to resources undercuts the potential for individual and collective health, well-being, and participation in political and social life (Barakat et al. 2004). Funding must therefore be available and tailored to local needs, while housing projects should pivot on clear and effective policies, rules, and practices. Based on the presented and discussed findings, future research can investigate how other specific factors contribute to activate, or undermine, effective PDRPM in the Gaza Strip, and how the described issues associated with project funding interact with other intervening factors.