Lead consultant: Do’s and don’ts in DRR in Indonesia - Practical review of DRR investment results in recent natural disasters in Indonesia

Project summary

The recent earthquakes in West Java and West Sumatra re-confirmed Indonesia as one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world. They also surface some significant gaps in the implementation of the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) framework in spite of important investments made over the years by the government, donors, national and international agencies.

On the other hand West Sumatra and West Java are two of a limited number of provinces that have made efforts to reduce disaster risk. Government and donor agencies have invested heavily on DRR. Prior to the latest earthquake, Padang (the capital of West Sumatera) has been long known in the post-tsunami context to be one of the highest tsunami risk area in the world due to its proximity to the coast, vulnerable terrain and population density.

Padang was several steps further than many other areas in terms of DRR. Padang has developed a local regulation on disaster management, established a local government unit for disaster management, and developed an early warning system and evacuation route for tsunami. This includes drills and tsunami preparedness education for community and schools.

In West Java too several activities have been undertaken to prepare the government, community and key stakeholders for disasters. The impact of the recent earthquakes in both provinces, however, raises these questions: why did the prior efforts not help in reducing the damage? Was the magnitude beyond the local capacities?

The impact of the recent earthquakes in both provinces and other geographical areas, the limited effectiveness and capacity of the government to respond, calling formally or welcoming international assistance, raise some concerns on the effectiveness of DRR measures and actual capacity and readiness at national, provincial and district levels.

After the onset of the two recent disasters, the government, agencies and communities are tempted to focus on short-termed, visible recovery work. Building on the momentum created by a disaster is often a very effective way to engage local governments and communities to capture the learning and contribute to long term DRR efforts. There is also an opportunity to further ensure that women’s needs and concerns are considered in DRR. Countless studies demonstrate how social, economic, cultural and environmental factors increase women’s vulnerability. Many studies have also reviewed that poor women are more vulnerable to disasters due to socially constructed gender roles and behaviours.

The humanitarian community needs to learn what has worked well and what has not worked in DRR throughout the disaster management cycle. The learning from the recent disasters in Indonesia including from West Sumatra and West Java, and the activation of response mechanism at national and international levels for medium to large disasters, should be documented to improve preparedness and response to future disasters.

The proposed study will gather lessons, evidence and produce recommendations, explicitly addressing the gendered impacts and gaps. Although there are many basic recommendations of how the needs, concerns of women should be considered and how participation of women in decision making in disasters should be required, it is still very clear that the implementation of the recommendations is very weak. The potential to promote the transformation of gender roles will be considered, as women are still not yet seen as leaders and key participants in decision making processes in responses to disasters.

Specific qualification requirements:

The consultant should be in the possession of:
- Disaster risk reduction (DRR) specialist with minimum 5 years of working experience and knowledge of disaster management (DM), including policy.
- Experience working in Indonesia essential,
- Sound skills in research methodology.
- Similar experience in conducting DRR/DM evaluation.
- Experience with International Organisation (desirable)
- Commitment to gender and experience promoting and including the perspective of women.
- Fluency in English and working knowledge of the Indonesian language will be an asset.