Cultivating policies for risk reduction and adaptation: new PfR-supported expert workshop in Jakarta

Partners for Resilience in Indonesia earlier this month supported a workshop in Jakarta convened by the Red Cross to discuss a draft study of local policy and practice on disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation and their “integration into spatial and development planning”.

The discussion was intended to generate input for and views of the study from civil society organizations working on risk reduction and adaptation in Indonesia.

The study is being conducted by the Indonesian Red Cross and the IFRC with technical support from the PfR country team.

It includes an examination of newly gathered data, a review of published literature, and interviews with government officials, experts and partner agencies – all current as of November; the final report will be issued early in the new year.

The maximum number of partners were involved from the outset to make the study as comprehensive as possible, and specialists on risk reduction, adaptation and urban planning provided input at an earlier meeting in September.

‘Dialogue’

Engagement in the study is expected to enhance the capacity and commitment of individuals and partner organizations to conduct dialogue on its recommendations with the government, organizers said.

“Study of this topic in Indonesia is very limited as things stand, but also very necessary,” said Andi Simarmata, an urban expert from the University of Indonesia.

“The integration of disaster risk reduction into spatial planning is a relatively rare, but to provide detailed information for strengthening policy this review should be limited to the national level – others may be able to take action at the local level.”

A number of recommendations have already emerged from the study, including improved coordination of institutional regulation and legislation.

“We hope to engage in dialogue with relevant ministries to strengthen risk reduction and adaptation policies recommended by this study,” said Ari Mochammad, an adviser to the USAID-funded Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Program in Indonesia.

Dialogue with the Ministry of National Development Planning and a number of other ministries and agencies is now planned for early 2018.

Near the village of Cemare on Indonesia’s Lombok island, Red Cross volunteers plant casuarina trees that will grow to some 30 metres and provide protection against storms. They also slow erosion, improve air quality and hopefully attract ecotourism to the tiny village. Since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the American Red Cross has supported the planting more than 120,000 casuarinas trees on the Indonesian coastline. (2014 library photo: Jenelle Eli/American Red Cross)