It has been a common knowledge in disaster management that persons with disability are counted as vulnerable element within a community. Without fairly considering their capacity, persons with disability have often been stigmatised and underestimated. By the birth of national regulations (Perka BNPB No. 14/2014 and Act No.8/2016 re Persons with Disability), Indonesian government is developing commitments to shift the common perspective and build supportive environment for persons with disability to participate in disaster management. This commitment is strengthen by the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) which highlighting disability involvement in disaster management practices.
Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) Indonesia & the Philippines is supporting Indonesian government to transform the regulations into real practices by strengthening collaborations between the government and Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) to implement inclusive disaster management. Under the Technical Assistance and Training Teams (TATTs) consortium programme, ASB conducted Training on Basic Disaster Management and Facilitation Technique for DPO Representatives on 2nd – 10th August 2016. The activity is aimed to improve DPO knowledge and understanding in Disaster Management and capacity in facilitation. Supported by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the training is also to prepare DPO to become important stakeholder in disaster management. Took place in Solo City, Central Java, the activity was participated by 23 representatives of DPO from 8 provinces across Indonesia who also participated in the previous introductory workshop on “Inclusive Disaster Management” in February 2016.
During the training, participants were given basic disaster management materials refer to the national curriculum from the centre of education of the Indonesia National Disaster Management Authority (Pusdiklat BNPB). In a session, participants also took the opportunity to develop plan of action related to disaster management knowledge transfer, DPO capacity building and to strengthen collaboration with Provincial Disaster Management Authority (BPBD) and other disaster management stakeholders. “We will update our data on persons with disability and share them with BPBD. We also plan to collaborate with related stakeholders to encourage the adoption of national regulation on disability inclusion at provincial level,” explained Basuki, participant from Sahabat Mata, organisation for blind people in Central Java. Along with basic disaster management materials, participants also learned practical facilitation skills where they explored new methods in delivering information. “The sessions are valuable and will help us to do our own sessions when we get back to our province. This also helps us to be more creative and to fathom our role as a facilitator in disaster management,” said Mince, participant from women with disability organisation (HWDI), Maluku Province.
The importance of disability contribution in disaster management also expressed by Ir. Sugeng Triutomo, former Deputy of Disaster Prevention and Preparedness of the BNPB who is now head of Disaster Risk Reduction Foundation. “It has been mandated globally through SFDRR and nationally through national regulations that whole community should be involved in disaster management, including persons with disability,” said Sugeng. In international level, Indonesia is currently leading in inclusive disaster management regulations. However, there are still challenges in putting regulations into real action, particularly at local level. Therefore, partnership between government institutions and DPO is a strategic approach to fill the gap and make inclusive disaster management possible. (Rizma Kristiana/edit:Melina Margaretha, Agnes Patongloan)
