Disaster is a series of events that threaten and disrupt people's lives caused by natural factors and/or

non-natural factors and human factors resulting in human casualties, environmental damage, property
losses, and psychological impacts. Whereas disaster management is a series of efforts that include the
establishment of development policies that are at risk of disasters, disaster prevention activities,
emergency response, and rehabilitation.

Overall the characteristics of disasters in Indonesia are influenced by geological position, astronomical
position, and human behavior that results in various disasters, namely floods, landslides, droughts, forest
and land fires, hurricanes, storm / tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, technology failure, and
disease outbreaks. Act No. 24 of 2007 also defines natural disasters, non-natural disasters, and social
disasters.

Indonesia realizes that disaster issues must be dealt with seriously since the earthquake and followed by
the tsunami that hit Aceh and its surroundings in 2004. Responding to disasters that continue to increase
every year, thoughts on disaster management must be understood and implemented by all parties.
Disaster is the business of all parties. Periodically, Indonesia is building a national system for handling
disasters. This national system includes several aspects including:

Legislation

In terms of legislation, the Government of Indonesia has ratified Law Number 24 of 2007 concerning
Disaster Management. The legal products below include Government Regulations, Presidential
Regulations, Head of Agency Regulations, and regional regulations.

Institutional

The institution can be viewed from the formal and non-formal side. Formally, the National Disaster
Management Agency (BNPB) is a focal point for government institutions at the central level. Meanwhile,
the disaster management focal points at the provincial and district/city levels are the Regional Disaster
Management Agency (BPBD).

On the non-formal side, forums both at the national and local levels were formed to strengthen disaster
management in Indonesia. At the national level, a National Platform (Planas) is formed which consists of
elements of civil society, business, universities, media, and international institutions.

Funding

At present disaster is not only a local or national issue but involves the international community. The
international community supports the Indonesian Government in building better disaster management.
On the other hand, the concern and seriousness of the Indonesian Government on disaster issues is very
high, as evidenced by significant budgeting, especially for disaster risk reduction in development.
 In accordance with the law, the main command in the disaster management process in Indonesia is
BNPB. The National Disaster Management Agency (abbreviated BNPB) is a Non-Departmental
Government Institution that has the task of assisting the President of the Republic of Indonesia in
coordinating the planning and implementation of integrated disaster management and emergency
activities; and carrying out disaster management and emergencies starting from before, during, and after
a disaster that includes prevention, preparedness, emergency handling, and recovery.

BNPB was formed based on Law no. 24 of 2007 concerning Disaster Management and Presidential
Regulation No. 8 of 2008. Previously this body was named the National Disaster Management
Coordinating Board which was formed based on Presidential Regulation No. 83 of 2005, replacing the
National Disaster Management and Refugee Management Coordinating Board formed by Presidential
Decree Number 3 the Year 2001.

The need for disaster prevention is needed to be able to assess the impact of the disaster. In general,
mitigation of natural disasters can be grouped into 3 namely prevention before a disaster, prevention
during a disaster and after a disaster. The following is the full description.

Before the disaster

There are 2 things that must be done before a disaster (pre-disaster), namely preparedness and
mitigation. Preparedness consists of activities to create an early warning system, develop methods of
maintaining logistics and conduct training for rescue team personnel. In addition, planning for
evacuation routes is also needed, as well as steps in the process of finding and rescuing disaster victims.
All these activities are carried out before a disaster occurs in order to reduce the incidence of casualties
and damage during a disaster.

While the activities included in mitigation are all activities that aim to reduce the scale of the disaster
that is predicted to occur in the future. This mitigation activity focuses on the danger or threat of the
disaster itself. For example, building houses that are resistant to earthquake shocks and making irrigation
systems in areas that are often hit by drought.

During a disaster

When natural disasters are taking place, there is a series of activities that must be carried out by the
rescue team. The series of activities included rescuing and evacuating victims and their property
(including livestock/pets), fulfilling the basic needs of disaster victims, providing protection, managing
refugees, and saving and repairing infrastructure.

After the disaster

The time after the disaster (post-disaster) is a time that needs to be considered because the disaster has
an impact afterward. In general, post-disaster activities can be divided into 2 namely rehabilitation and
reconstruction. Rehabilitation is an effort to repair and restore all areas of public service so that it can be
used or function again. The field of public services that must be improved covers all things, from the field
of government in the disaster area to the lives of the people.