As a teacher shouted “Fire! Fire!,” around 200 students of Al Manar Islamic Boarding School rushed out of the building.
“Be calm,” another teacher advised, while the students huddled on the school’s athletic field. “Be sure to take the necessary precautions. And always seek protection from Allah.”
This was the scene during a disaster drill conducted by the school that is supported by UNDP. These Islamic schools are known as Dayah here, in Indonesia’s Aceh province.
One of the key elements to raising awareness about Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Aceh – an autonomous region with strong Islamic and cultural values – is addressing the prevailing belief of its large population that disasters are “God’s will.”
This is crucial because Indonesia as a whole, and Aceh in particular, has witnessed numerous disasters. It was at the epicentre of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Aceh alone, and in particular its capital Banda Aceh, suffered nearly three-fourths of the 230,000 deaths, in that disaster.
Overall, Indonesia ranks second-highest for disaster risk in the world, so Disaster Risk Reduction is an investment worth making, not just for Indonesia but for all countries.
Investing in preparedness increases the resilience of countries to disaster, and reduces the human, economic and social impacts of disasters. This is critical in a country like Indonesia, where the devastation cause by the tsunami cost US$4.45 billion.
In Aceh, “we have to work with the religious community in order to help shift people’s perception about disasters,” says UNDP Programme Manager Malikah Amril. “Hence, we work with a network of Dayah because they play an influential role in changing the behaviour of the people.”
UNDP was the first international development agency to engage with the Dayah, often the only schools accessible to poor and disadvantaged children in Aceh. Following the tsunami, with the support of the UNDP, the province became the first region in Indonesia to integrate DRR measures in schools.
According to the UNDP Programme Manager Amril, a cultural approach to teaching DRR is critical as in particularly religious societies such as Aceh changing mindsets that have been shaped by traditional values requires far more than simply introducing and teaching a subject.
With UNDP’s support, the province’s Education Department has developed curricula and teaching materials that cover how to deal with certain types of hazards. Working with local governments, UNDP has trained more than 2,400 teachers, 57 per cent of them women, with DRR materials, and has extended the training to journalists, and other Aceh residents.
Working with Dayah in Aceh is just part of UNDP’s overall strategy of putting resilience at the heart of development in Indonesia. UNDP is also committed in supporting the Government of Indonesia to reduce and minimize the adverse impact of disasters through the application of DRR policies and regulations.
The 2004 tsunami exposed important weaknesses in Indonesia’s intitutional and regulatory framework, including the lack of a dedicated disaster management agency to effectively respond to disasters.
Since then, UNDP’s support on institutional reform of disaster management in the country has resulted in major policy and institutional changes to address disaster risks. Key among these changes has been the establishment of national and regional disaster management agencies to coordinate relevant Ministries’ and sectors’ work on DRR.
Since the inception of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in 2008, UNDP has supported the agency to set up nationwide action plans on DRR and disaster risk management. This has included setting up a national platform to monitor DRR activities and share knowledge among practitioners and experts, as well as to assist in drafting disaster risk maps in five provinces, including Aceh.
UNDP has assisted BNPB to strengthen its capabilities to manage post-disaster recovery efforts, making Indonesia one of the first countries in the region to develop comprehensive guidelines and tools for assessing damages, losses, and needs. Indonesia now joins a list of select countries with comprehensive policies and institutional capability to manage large-scale disaster recovery.
Within Indonesia, Aceh is a leader in DRR. Working with UNDP it has established of disaster management regulations that are part of a solid early warning system. The capital Banda Aceh is dotted with clear evacuation routes and assembly points to ensure smooth evacuation during disasters. To signal the risk of tsunamis, the waters off Aceh are now equipped with DART buoys that are a crucial link in the early warning system.
With the integration of DRR into development planning, the provincial government periodically holds disaster drills, similar to the one at Al Manar Islamic Boarding School, to ensure residents are well-versed in precautionary steps.
Such investment in preparedness has paid off. When a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Aceh in January 2012, preparedness activities and a quick relay of early warning by the Aceh government helped to evacuate people out of harm’s way. No casualties or damage were reported, a stark contrast to the death and destruction recorded in 2004. Within hours, life had returned to normal. And when a massive 8.6-magnitude earthquake hit Aceh three months later, in April 2012 – shaking the ground for several minutes and prompting another tsunami alert – fewer than 10 casualties were reported.
More and more, with UNDP assistance, students at Al Manar Islamic Boarding School and other Islamic schools across Aceh are being imbued with the skills they need when disaster strikes. In one recent case study in Banda Aceh, all Islamic school students interviewed agreed that people should prepare for disasters. As one junior high school student told the authors of that study: “Allah will do anything to humankind. We have to make efforts, as well as ask for His protection.”
