DRR IN
Indonesia
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),
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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.
Save the Children’s presence in Indonesia
Save 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. Above: Earthquake emergency simulation.
Save the Children works with the Government of Indonesia and Cover: Al, 13, was placed in the care of Darul Amna hostel six years ago when his father
other actors to strengthen preparedness and emergency response. was killed in the armed conflict in Aceh. The following year his mother and a brother were
killed in the tsunami.
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. through the disaster preparedness and response program in North
Save the Children has ensured that children are prepared for Sumatra Province, Aceh Province and DKI Jakarta Province.
disasters and mitigate their affect, building the resilience and
capacity of children and their communities. Health
First aid and sanitation training was run in communities with a long
Preparedness and mitigation history of flooding in Jogjakarta. First aid training provides basic
Save the Children has emphasised the importance of Child-led DRR knowledge and skills on how to provide first aid in the case of an
at schools, and community-based DRR in communities. In Aceh emergency immediately after a disaster event and before outside
Province, we have institutionalised Child-led DRR in the classroom. help can arrive. Having a community member close and at hand
School children developed risk maps and action plans for risk who can provide immediate basic help saves lives.
mitigation, ran emergency simulations and school contingency The sanitation training focused on post disaster water treatment.
planning. In addition, Save the Children led community contingency This was to equip the local community with knowledge and skills to
plans with the active participation of children. do independent water treatment when required. Most issues were
Our community based DRR program initiated public service on water born diseases and health disorders.
announcements, interactive dialogue on radio informing
communities about DRR and emergency preparedness, and Capacity building
developed signposts for meeting and evacuation routes. Save the Children has strengthened the capacity of communities
and local authorities to develop and apply child – focused disaster
Building resilience preparedness and mitigation interventions and to ensure that the
Save the Children has increased resilience and reduced the impact of lessons learnt from the selected approaches are shared with key
disasters on children and their communities in Indonesia using partners at local, national and regional level.
community-based and child-centred DRR program in Lhokseumawe Save the Children have run a number of workshops and training
district in Aceh. We have created a protective environment for sessions through our Community Based DRR program and
children through behaviour changes, mitigation and risk reduction in Jogjakarta DRR program to build the capacity of communities to
schools and communities and strengthened community capacity prepare and respond to disasters.

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