VIVAnews - Indonesia is deemed a country with outstanding disaster mitigation system. One of the examples is the one applied to the West Sumatra earthquake in late September 2009.
The statement was conveyed by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), donor countries and NGOs focusing on the sector.
According to the Indonesian Representative Office for the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, the assessment was done while UN-OCHA was holding a Disaster Coordination and Analysis Council meeting on Tuesday, February 9.
Indonesian Deputy Representative for the UN, WTO and other international organizations in Geneva, Desra Percaya, was asked to present an example of the successful aspect of disaster mitigation in Padang, West Sumatra.
“UN-OCHA said that Indonesia was an example of a country that was successful in the UN humanitarian operation, especially in post-disaster mitigation,” Indonesian Representative Office Secretary, Achsanul Habib said.
During his presentation, Percaya stated that the Indonesian government applied the management of disaster mitigation to the Padang earthquake through solid coordination with the UN bodies and other countries. The mitigation was able to be run smoothly because it was supported by excellent coordination between the central and regional governments, UN-OCHA and its on-the-go team.
“The disaster mitigation in Padang has also set a good example following the change of approach utilized by the government of Indonesia,” Percaya said.
He revealed that the Indonesian government employed a more proactive approach instead of a reactive one by focusing on the elimination of disaster risks and adopting community-based approach.
The case study was considered important to the meeting participants that include UN-OCHA officials, UN organizations and prominent donor countries such as the UN, European Union, Japan, Australia, Canada and several humanitarian NGOs.
Ambassador Toni Frisch, who represented the Humanitarian Aid of the Swiss Government, said he gained an important lesson from the humanitarian mission in Padang.
According to him, Indonesia is an independent country who has an adequate disaster mitigation management skill which is supported by well-seasoned human resources.
“This is what clearly distinguishes Indonesia from other countries with similar characteristics in disaster mitigation,” Frisch said.
At the end of the meeting, the participants concluded that partnership and international cooperation is one of the key factors in disaster mitigation. This is also an element that is equally important to the capacity enhancement of the government and the people in looking at and managing disaster.
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Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
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