Paper short abstract:

Arguably, COVID-19 has orchestrated a shift in the mobilisation of assistance to and by local NGOs. This study seeks to situate the roles of digital technologies in driving resources (financial and human volunteers) to destinations (local NGO accounts or endpoints of need).

Paper long abstract:

Donors, humanitarian organisations and governments are central to mitigating the impacts of any humanitarian crisis. In the face of COVID-19, the aid responsibility has been widened, inviting the resources of these actors in its many forms to reinforce efforts by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other principals to whom the responsibility of global health security has been saddled. However, the perceived capacity of global health response has been severely challenged by stretched human, financial and infrastructural resources. Public awareness about this informs local volunteerism of resources to bolster national and global efforts, largely attributable to the uptake of digital technologies. While existing studies have appraised correlations between emergency assistance and factors such as, media (coverage), foreign aid and donor concerns, this study identifies the need to investigate extant dynamics of assistance mobilisation and volunteering during COVID-19. What does resource volunteerism, via digital platforms, outside the local NGO space tell us about the capabilities of such NGOs to drive their COVID-19 related objectives? What are the drivers of volunteered assistance and their destinations (end points of need or local NGO accounts)? Lensed through the resource mobilisation theory and digital innovation theory, this study explores the shifting norms in rendering assistance and the roles of digital technologies in driving resources and donations to certain endpoints during the pandemic. This will further frame an understanding of the extent to which digital innovations in the Nigerian landscape empowers or disempowers local NGOs in the provision of relief and their broad aid enterprise.