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Children and their communities in Indonesia are among the most vulnerable in the world to the effects of natural and man-made disasters. The country is regularly subjected to a wide range of disasters stemming from climate change and environmental degradation (floods, landslides, and droughts),

and plate tectonics (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis). In the coming decades, climate change and environmental degradation will very likely lead to more frequent and intense climate extreme events and thus further amplify the loss from disasters.

IndonesiaDRR IN

savethechildren.net

Save the Children’s presence in IndonesiaSave the Children has been operating in Indonesia since 1976 and

currently manages programs in Aceh, North Sumatra, Jakarta,

Yogyakarta, East, Central and West Java, Banten, South Sulawesi,

East Nusa Tenggarra and Maluku, and works in both relief and

long-term development.

In recent years Save the Children has responded to a range of

small, medium and large scale disasters across the country most

notably, the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Aceh (December 2004), the

Yogyakarta earthquake (May 2006), the West Sumatra earthquake

(September 2009), and the Mentawai tsunami (October 2010), Mt

Merapi (October 2010).

Save the Children is committed to expanding our work with

communities through DRR programs to better enable vulnerable

communities to understand the risks they face, how to mitigate

them, and how to respond should they escalate into disasters.

In the last five years Save the Children has received over

USD2,500,000 in funding from DEC, Save the Children Australia,

Save the Children Canada and DIPECHO for its DRR programs.

Save the Children’s work has directly reached over 44,506 children

and 134,900 community members in Indonesia.

Save the Children works with the Government of Indonesia and

other actors to strengthen preparedness and emergency response.

We work with the Ministry of National Education (from national level

to district level), BNPB/National Disaster Management Agency (from

national level to provincial level), Consortium of Disaster Education,

Clusters (in particular the Education Cluster, Protection Cluster and

Health Cluster), and the ECB Project Indonesia Consortium.

Save the Children has ensured that children are prepared for

disasters and mitigate their affect, building the resilience and

capacity of children and their communities.

Preparedness and mitigationSave the Children has emphasised the importance of Child-led DRR

at schools, and community-based DRR in communities. In Aceh

Province, we have institutionalised Child-led DRR in the classroom.

School children developed risk maps and action plans for risk

mitigation, ran emergency simulations and school contingency

planning. In addition, Save the Children led community contingency

plans with the active participation of children.

Our community based DRR program initiated public service

announcements, interactive dialogue on radio informing

communities about DRR and emergency preparedness, and

developed signposts for meeting and evacuation routes.

Building resilienceSave the Children has increased resilience and reduced the impact of

disasters on children and their communities in Indonesia using

community-based and child-centred DRR program in Lhokseumawe

district in Aceh. We have created a protective environment for

children through behaviour changes, mitigation and risk reduction in

schools and communities and strengthened community capacity

through the disaster preparedness and response program in North Sumatra Province, Aceh Province and DKI Jakarta Province.

HealthFirst aid and sanitation training was run in communities with a long history of flooding in Jogjakarta. First aid training provides basic knowledge and skills on how to provide first aid in the case of an emergency immediately after a disaster event and before outside help can arrive. Having a community member close and at hand who can provide immediate basic help saves lives.

The sanitation training focused on post disaster water treatment. This was to equip the local community with knowledge and skills to do independent water treatment when required. Most issues were on water born diseases and health disorders.

Capacity buildingSave the Children has strengthened the capacity of communities and local authorities to develop and apply child – focused disaster preparedness and mitigation interventions and to ensure that the lessons learnt from the selected approaches are shared with key partners at local, national and regional level. Save the Children have run a number of workshops and training sessions through our Community Based DRR program and Jogjakarta DRR program to build the capacity of communities to prepare and respond to disasters.

Above: Earthquake emergency simulation.

Cover: Al, 13, was placed in the care of Darul Amna hostel six years ago when his father was killed in the armed conflict in Aceh. The following year his mother and a brother were killed in the tsunami.