Thought Series – Issue No. 4

Traditionally, disaster management in Indonesia has been understood as emergency response. Between 1967-1980, disaster management agencies served primarily as quick response units providing rapid assistance and emergency response for disaster events. The Governor, District Regent or Mayor oversaw disaster management in their region assisted by the Commander of the Indonesian National Army (TNI) and the Chief of Indonesian National Police in the region. This paradigm persisted until the Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004, which devastated the province of Aceh. Out of the response to that disaster, the role of civil society emerged through the concept of Community Based Disaster Risk Management, which was the beginning of the shift towards disaster risk reduction, with policy makers using disaster risk assessments as the basis for disaster management plans at the national and regional levels. In recognition of the increasing importance of disaster risk reduction, in 2005 disaster management began to shift towards disaster risk management in line with the Hyogo (HFA 2005-2015) and Sendai (SFDRR 2015-2030) disaster reduction frameworks.