Ngargomulyo Disaster Risk Reduction Forum: Building Resilience to Disasters

Summary

The Ngargomulto DRR Forum provided learning for the helpless and inspiration for volunteers as well as the nearby village of BPBD (Regional Disaster Management Agency) and other stakeholders regarding CBDRM. The function and role of DRRF is: 1) To help the community and the government of the village and hamlet in disaster risk reduction (pre, during and post-disaster), and 2) To act as a container in disaster management and evacuation systems, logging, EWS, etc. The Ngargomulyo village is a village located in KRB 3 (disaster-prone region 3, or in the red zone area (the danger), 7km from the peak of Merapi Volcano).

Activities undertaken included:

Dissemination of disaster risk reduction at the community level
Study of risk/present mapping in the community
Preparation of the FPRB work plan
Disaster preparedness training – training in first aid and evacuation simulations in case of an accident and training in financial management and fundraising
Evacuation simulations at the village level in cooperation with county government and donor institutions
Devising a volcano contingency plan
Peer learning and information dissemination to new villages in the areas around of Merapi Volcano
Trainings in how to become a leader in handling disaster in the village (evacuation and repatriation)
Helping in the recovery of the disaster-affected citizens (physical, economic, social etc.)
Disaster evacuation simulations in elementary schools.

The actors involved in the DRRF include government organisations, representatives of the village, community leaders, religious figures, youth, village and district level government, local NGOs and volunteers.

The project began with 6 months of action research, followed by 2 years of implementation of the project to establish and strengthen CMDRR (September 2007–February 2010). In October 2010 the next eruption occurred and Ngargomulyo DRRF along with the DRRF of 3 villages (Sumber, Sengi, Krinjing) handled the disaster situation (evacuation, review, verification, collection and distribution logistics) from October–December 2010.

The various parties who cooperated with Ngargomulyo DRRF included: Bina Swadaya, Cordaid, Plan International, Insist, PT Gudang Garam TBK, UNICEF, Get Merapi Posko AJU (BPBD the province of Central Java), and PERDHAKI.

Process

The Ngargomulyo DRRF intervention was fully owned by their own communities, who started building the organisation, conducted a study, planned activities, implemented activities, formed partnerships, and conducted monitoring and evaluation. Bina Swadaya facilitated all capacity building processes and full ownership remains evident in the development and implementation of CMDRR Ngargomulyo DRRF activities to the present day. The knowledge and skills that were used were enhanced through establishment of the DRRF and included conducting studies, planning, organisational management training, management skills, ER appropriate DRR pokja DRRF, practice and simulation skills, making proposals and networking with various stakeholders. The role of the government as village Trustees included supporting the functioning of Village Regulations by making DRRF consider disaster risk reduction, devising a contingency plan/allocation of funds, providing protab DRRF, and communicating at the level of the government districts. The county government made the Ngargomulyo DRRF and 3 others examples of the DRRF model for CMDRR evacuation drills and preparation for catastrophic eruption of the volcano. When the eruption occurred in October 2010, the village government helped 4 DRRFs manage the process of evacuation and displacement of the population of 4 villages. CMDRR activities by the Ngargomulyo DRRF were coordinated in the following organisational structure: Adviser, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Pokja Squad – Team/Squad: Logging And early detection; The Evacuation Team; First Aid Squad; The Communications Team; General Kitchen Squad; The Security Squad; Education Squads; The Farm Team. The main movers of the DRRF team were the Chairman (village staff) and Vice Chairman (community member from youth groups). The Vice Chairman of the activity helped with communication in the village and networking as well as partnership with parties outside the village.

Ngargomulyo DRRF does mapping and gathers information and service on all the villagers, including vulnerable groups (the elderly, children, pregnant women, or people with disability) who are recorded and get special treatment. The evacuation of vulnerable groups comes with special vehicles to evacuate them before the other community members. Families of volunteers (members of DRRF) are included as vulnerable groups, because the heads of the family are busy managing the evacuation process. DRRF also are already thinking about the management of the evacuation of livestock owned by residents. Activities for vulnerable groups conducted by Ngargomulyo DRRF focus on the inclusion of DRR in extracurricular activities of primary school children in collaboration with the Department of Education. Other marginal groups in the activities of CMDRR include citizens of hamlets in the villages of areas prone to the threat of the volcano that are under Ngargomulyo DRRF attention, particularly the village closest to the peak of Merapi and residents living along the streams flowing from the volcano.

Ngargomulyo DRRF activities included dissemination of disaster meetings conducted in the village and spending time to understand the threats of the Merapi volcano and the importance of ensuring that each person and family is always vigilant and prepared. DRRF will always coordinate and require the support of the whole community. Evacuation drills were conducted at the village level with coordinating roles of pokja and the Chairman of the RW (hamlet) and RT (neigbourhood area) in involving all the villagers. The DRRF really served to manage the implementation of the evacuation and shelter along with the three neighbouring villages and has been providing awareness to citizens and the government to change the village priorities by conducting DRR efforts (early warning, preparedness, prevention, and mitigation), though with an understanding of the existing limitations. In addition, it also promoted the role of DRRF volunteerism among villagers. DRRF strengthened its capacity to undertake studies, organise themselves, carry out activities and conduct participatory evaluation and monitoring, both by itself and together with other parties. Ngargomulyo DRRF coordinated the processes of monitoring and evaluation. This activity is built into the mechanism of regular meetings of the Executive Board and members of the internal organisation in DRRF. DRRF was also involved in the monitoring mechanism in the network of multi-party coordinated district level government and coordinated the meetings. The county government has a mechanism for multi-stakeholder meetings, and DRRF Ngargomulyo is part of the network. DRRF always gives input based on the conditions and needs in the village.

Impact

Ngargomulyo DRRF continues to grow and develop and execute its functions, although the program has ended. Some of the evidence of the impact of the functioning role of DRRF includes: - Initiation of the formation of DRRF at the district level - Development of the network in the neighbouring village of 3 DRRFs - Draft of the village RPJM (medium-term development plan) for disaster risk reduction - Draft of regulations concerning disaster-prone villages - The development of sister villages and SID (village information systems) in collaboration with the county government and NGOs (Combain and UNDP) - Inclusion of DRR in extracurricular activities among primary school children in collaboration with the Department of Education - Development of contingency plans (protab-procedures and code of conduct) shared with the government's Disaster Management Agency, villages, religious figures, and community leaders elected as part of the village - A pilot project of the National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB Countermeasures DRRF) - A 5-year RAK (finance budget plan) that involves making a plan, strengthening contingency volunteers, and improving evacuation paths Each year DRRF compiled a proposal for strengthening DRR capacity in the village. In 2017, $5 million was received and, in 2018 $7 million was proposed. CMDRR activities used only local resources i.e. villagers fulfilling the roles and tasks appropriate to the organisational structure, personnel and recruitment of volunteers. DRRF developed a preparedness system encompassing data, sector/squad/volunteers, personnel, infrastructure, and information. DRRF data includes: human, property, transport fleet/transportation evacuation, evacuation lines, volunteers, temporary shelters, needs and equipment. The program ended in 2010, but Ngargomulyo DRRF continues to run and develop activities and coordinate with various parties.

Both DRRF and village community are changing in terms of their knowledge, skills as well as their attitude in understanding the threat of Merapi volcano. The villagers care about the status of Merapi and are involved as volunteers. Changes in government policy are happening through village to village adalahterutama, and budgeting for DRR, knowledge-sharing and cooperation among villages prone to eruptions of the volcano. County government, particularly BPBD of Magelang District, is listening to input from DRRF and always coordinate with affected villages and multistakeholders. They also gave rise to typical seating personnel of DRRF villages and aid worth $40 million in the form of EWS tools. DRRF was capable of coordinating a team of village and various parties and a communal kitchen in tackling forest fires in Ngargomulyo village in 2015. Ngargomulto DRRF has further thought about different people's resilience and kerentanannya, which is poured into the contingency plan, capacity building team, community, children, vulnerable groups, livestock, and a shelter. It supports villages, as well as encourages the role of the government. They not only pay attention to the village school but also focus on supporting villages where the homes of residents have become a place of refuge, and multipurpose buildings for shelter. DRRF thinks so far the capacity of various parties are still focused on the emergency response time, and does not yet have adequate capacity in preparedness and pascabencana. Non structural mitigation in different people's vulnerability and capacity is still limited to socialisation and training on vulnerable groups, especially the elderly and children. DRRF involves health village cadres to integrate the outreach elements of individual and family preparedness, as well as the way of handling time of evacuation for vulnerable groups including the families of volunteers. They're also thinking of providing logistics when dipengusian in meeting the special needs of children and women are still overlooked in others.

Other

Ngargomulyo DRRF’s thinking is that the start of the strategy for sustainability is in every forum where there must be a leader/movers. There must be coordination with government or other forums (visits, regular meetings), mutual exchange of information, and design of sustainable activities. CMDRR institutional building must begin with a special process of strengthening the capacity of DRRF personnel about DRR and mentoring practices for the functioning of DRRF in disaster relief. It is important to have the presence of a companion with a good capacity and networking with stakeholders. Effective CMDRR also needs recognition and support from the local government, community and district government as well as other humanitarian organisations.

Indonesia has already started addressing regulations such as the CMDRR Constitution-law No. 24/2014 about disaster relief. These products inform government regulation of derivatives and its implementation by the BNPB (National Board for Disaster Management) through pilot programs or Disaster Resilient Village (Destana). Destana was implemented in disaster-prone villages. Structurally, bureaucratic government formed disaster relief agencies ranging from the national level BNPB to BPBD at the level of district. The DRR Forum was also established, containing elements of multi-stakeholders at the level of the province, district and village. Their function is to coordinate the integration of disaster mitigation in other development sectors and be functional, especially during disaster events. Through the project we were able to influence policy at the level of village, district, province and national. The village to district levels have been reflected in the story above. At the province and national level, we conducted advocacy with the partnership and networking with a wide range of organisations. The CMDRR - DRRF model became evident not only in replication in other locations but also scaling up appropriate context and needs of the community sector in the region.

The local government, acting as adviser or patron, is responsible for the coordination of CMDRR at the local level is CMDRR. At each project location, our agency participated and affected the formation or strengthening of CMDRR or DRRF at the village and district levels (South Central Timor, NTT province and District of Magelang district, Central Java Province) or at least was part of the their activities (in Jakarta). There is enough capacity for CMDRR actors, both technical and financial, but its frequency is not clear as to the level of district or province. But for CMDRR village level actors, technical and financial services have been regulated in the regulations of the village of disaster relief that was initiated by their own DRRF. Frequency each year is based on the plans and proposals of DRRF formed.

Incentives for CMDRR funding are available in every village, as Perdes (the village roles) stated in disaster relief, and the annual village budget plan. It is widely used to fund the activities of the DRR and ER. There is also a chance the implementation of CMDRR project activities in village level disaster relief, both from international NGO or and the government. The legality of the Government's Decree is village CMDRR, so that the funding mechanisms set the village.

Actors who were involved directly have experienced many CMDRR changes in life. They appear as the new leaders, are valued and taken into account at the level of the village. The scope of their work sometimes reaches beyond the village to the district level. Existing recognition includes from their appointed Councillor, a character of youth, even acting as a facilitator for training or similar activities in their environment, believed to carry out the projects of other institutions. Other related practices include the integration of DRR into development of the village, give rise to the practice of disaster relief through the socialisation culture festival. This involves the community in the activities of the employment service and social mutual cleaning of the environment or tree planting. Even emerging policies of village government dictate that any newlyweds pay administration by planting trees in the forest and his yard. (Ngargomulyo), In addition, the society also fosters family savings of maintenance of cattle goats and planting sweet corn. Corn was selected because its roots are capable of menguarai damaged soil hardens due to volcanic ash. There are also examples of agreements between villages to keep cattle separate so as not to damage the plants, and give fines in case of violations. There are also examples of using fuel-efficient wood; mixing sports grounds with farming and organic farming; and having water harvesting systems with retention, recharge and reuse. Also vegetable planting practices were established that consider the season calendar and an estimate of the rainfall. Vegetable cultivation saved results and activities developed to saving and loan activities. Feedback mechanisms to influence local CMDRR policy actors are done through regular meetings, or village level communication directly with the person responsible for the activity. During the project implementation, a progress report of activities was given to the government as a way to affect policy, in addition to helping develop rules of the village as well as other policies.

Summary

Process

Tell us about the extent to which the CBDRM intervention was ‘owned’ by the community. Were local skills and knowledge used? What was the role of the local government? How were the CBDRM activities coordinated? By whom?

To what extent were the most marginalised and at-risk groups included in the CBDRM process? Focus on women, children and youth, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Are there any other marginalised groups in your society who were included in the CBDRM activities?

Were the CBDRM activities adjusted in any way to account for changing priorities and/or contexts in the community? If so, how? Think about mechanisms to monitor changes and learn from the activities, and who this monitoring and learning is coordinated by.

Impact

Please reflect on how well the initiative has been able to continue beyond the end of the programme. To what extent were local resources used for the CBDRM activities? How long since programme completion have the CBDRM practices continued?

Please describe how lives have changed since the CBDRM project. Think about different people’s levels of resilience and vulnerability.

Other

Please provide us with any other information you think will highlight the sustainability of your particular CBDRM project.

Discuss the availability of long-term funding for CBDRM in different budgets. To what extent do incentives and disincentives exist for CBDRM? Please provide any details, including reference to the continuity and diversification of funding.