Indonesia continues to demonstrate its global leadership on disaster risk management, with its recent launch of its Strengthening  Law and Disaster Risk Reduction in Indonesia: Checklist Assessment Report in Jakarta. The research undertaken by Indonesia Red Cross (PMI) and IFRC, with financial support provided by the Government of Canada and Canadian Red Cross, provides an assessment of Indonesia’s legal and policy framework for disaster risk reduction, using the  Checklist on the  Law and DRR which was developed jointly by UNDP and IFRC.  The Checklist supports government and other stakeholders to assess their country’s laws and policies against ten key areas –  from how well integrated DRR is integrated in  sectorial laws like education, housing  and land use planning to  how community participation is mandated in risk reduction decision making.

Tsunami, including the development of a very sophisticated disaster management  legal system – there are some areas that require further attention. These issues relate to, among others, stronger institutional mechanisms for horizontal coordination on DRR across the sectors, as well as vertical coordination from national to village level. There also needs to be greater priority placed on implementation, particularly at the village level and ensuring communities are actively engaged in decision making. The report clearly lays out recommendations under each of the checklist questions on ways that risk reduction can be better integrated into the laws and regulations in Indonesia and provides a strong evidence base for future action.

The report was launched as part of the Partners for Resilience (PfR) event held in Jakarta on 30 November 2016.  Partners for Resilience is an alliance of humanitarian, development, climate and environmental civil society organizations globally, including in  in Indonesia who work together to promote the application of Integrated Risk Management (IRM) to strengthen and protect livelihoods of vulnerable communities, primarily against climate-related natural hazards, and with special attention for inclusivity and the role of gender. The DRR and Law report provides a strong evidence base for their ongoing advocacy and influence efforts in Indonesia. PMI and IFRC will continue to work through this alliance to ensure that recommendations from the report are considered and acted on in Indonesia.

This update is also published in ifrc.org at this link.

See also: 

• Strengthening Law and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Indonesia – Checklist Assessment Report
• Checklist on Law and Disaster Risk Reduction
• Strengthening law and disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Indonesia – Consultation Workshop | 29 Feb 2016 | Indonesia