Joint Efforts in Creating Local Resilience in West Nusa Tenggara
Newsletter November 2023
The SIAP SIAGA program completed its 2023 Joint Monitoring Mission (JMM) in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Province, which aimed to assess the progress and performance of the program in that province. Held in Mataram City and North Lombok District, this event succeeded in collecting learning, good practice and recommendations for the program and its partners related to disaster management and local resilience-based disaster risk reduction.
The Mission was held over two days from 31st October to 1st November. Officially opened on the morning of the first day, this event discussed an overview of the program’s work and results in collaboration with a range of stakeholders at the provincial and district levels. On the second day on November 1, JMM visited Malaka Village, Pemenang Subdistrict, North Lombok District, to discuss disaster management and community resilience issues with policymakers and view changes on the ground. The entire series of events was attended by 80 representatives from SIAP SIAGA Program stakeholder institutions at the national, provincial, and district levels in NTB.
Officially opened by Lucy Dickinson, Team Leader of the SIAP SIAGA Program, this event welcomed the attendance of program stakeholders who have been supporting the acceleration of disaster risk reduction in NTB Province. Among the attendees were the Subnational Secretary Official of NTB Province, Fathurrahman, who expressed his appreciation for the support of the Australian Government for building the capacity of local governments in disaster resilience; Deputy of System and Strategy of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Raditya Jati, who encouraged sustainable collaboration for disaster risk reduction actors in NTB for a better local-based resilience; and First Secretary, Humanitarian, Australian Embassy, Sarah Stein, who conveyed the Australian Government’s commitment to continue to promote the realisation of local resilience in NTB Province.
In order to provide an overview of key SIAP SIAGA supported initiatives and the results achieved to-date, a knowledge sharing exhibition entitled “Sustainable Resilience Village” showcased partnerships with Government and Non-Government partners. The presence of a wide range partners demonstrated the positive effects of efforts to increase alignment and collaboration on disaster risk management efforts that continued to be promoted by the SIAP SIAGA Program.
Using a world caféformat, this exhibition involved nine program partner institutions, namely the Subnational Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of NTB Province, BPBD of North Lombok District, BPBD of Central Lombok District, Subnational Development Planning Agency (Bappeda), Communication, Information and Statistics Office of NTB, Disaster Risk Reduction Forum (FPRB) of NTB, NU Agency for Disaster Management and Climate Change (LPBI NU), Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC), and KONSEPSI & Mitra Samya.
Program partner government agencies presented progress towards the coherence of disaster risk reduction efforts supported by policy alignment and institutional cooperation between strategic partners. Meanwhile, civil society organisation partners used this opportunity to remind participants of the importance of involving and engaging civil society to realise sustainable local resilience. Lasting for two hours, this activity, which enabled activie discussion between participants also promoted the identification of future priorities and areas for further cooperation for collective disaster risk reduction efforts.
The first day was closed with a talkshow entitled “Strengthening Local Resilience through Service Provision and Village Development Planning to Accelerate Community Resilience”. Moderated by Deswanto Marbun, Head of Subnational SIAP SIAGA Program, the discussion involved Dr. H. Ir Iswandi, Head of Bappeda of NTB Province, Lalu Ahmad Nur Aulia, S. STP, Head of the Village Government Community Empowerment, Citizenship, and Civil Registry Office of NTB Province, Ir. Ahmadi, SP-1, Head Executive of BPBD of NTB Province, and Sri Sukarni, Coordinator of the Indonesian Association for Women with Disabilities (HWDI) NTB.
In the discussion, this talkshow emphasised the importance of the local government’s role, both at the provincial and district/city levels, in supporting the strengthening of community capacity for both disaster prepredness and recovery more effective disaster risk reduction policies. In addition pannelists also focused on the importance of comprehensive collaboration including the involvement of marginalised groups such as the elderly or people with disabilities.
Reviewing Good Practices in the Field
On the second day, a visit to North Lombok District Bappeda and Malaka Village, Pemenang Subdistrict, provided an opportunity for all stakeholders of the SIAP SIAGA Program to see firsthand the impact of the program’s work and to discuss priorities moving forward. The whole series of events was facilitated by KONSEPSI.
Held at the North Lombok District Head Office, the meeting with Bappeda, moderated by SIAP SIAGA Program, described opportunities for maximising collaborative and area-based disaster risk reduction efforts, considering North Lombok’s disaster-prone geographical location. Furthermore, welfare-based local resilience has been continuously pursued by strengthening basic services and resources of district and village governments to supoport community based disaster resilience. The SIAP SIAGA program continues to be committed to supporting the efforts of the North Lombok District Government in realising institutional disaster resilience and collective actions for more effectively targeted community-based disaster preparedness.
The visit to Malaka Village was divided into three groups to capture the achievements of three aspects of the program; inclusive economic resilience in disaster prone areas, the role of village disaster management institutions, and village planning and budgeting based on disaster risk reduction.
The discussion on inclusive economic resilience in disaster areas highlighted the cross-sectoral efforts across government departmetns, businesses, and rural communities to build economic resilience in facing disaster risks through entrepreneurial activities. Initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic, these efforts to empower women and people with disabilities through Village-Owned Enterprises represented an integrated community effort towards building local resilience to strengthening disaster preparedness through inclusive social capital.
Furthermore, the discussion on the role of village disaster management for a highlighted the importance of institutional and budgetary collaboration between villages and policy coherence between institutions to overcome disasters that know no regional boundaries. SIAP SIAGA Progam stakeholders also used this opportunity to capture good practices on collaboration in the field that can be incoporated into national policy and replicated in other areas and to learn from village disaster actors on their successes in improving alignment of policies and regulations to support more effective and efficient disaster response efforts.
Finally, the discussion on disaster risk-based village planning and budgeting underlined the importance of disaster preparedness planning taking into account the capacity and level of awareness of each village and of consistently including disaster risk management in village planning and budgeting.
Closing the series of JMM activities, a debrief meeting was held after the end of the visit to Malaka Village. In this session, program stakeholders shared insights and recommendations gathered from the visit, including recommendations for future activities. Participants expressed appreciation for the work fo the program through its partnerships with Government and non-government stakeholders in NTB province and across the wider program. The SIAP SIAGA Program continues to strive towards the continued development, application and replication of good practices for disaster risk management.
