Jakarta, Indonesia, November 12, 2012 - Indonesia’s post-disaster reconstruction experiences have improved disaster preparedness in the country, and offer “best practice” examples to other countries vulnerable to natural disasters, say experts at an international conference on post-disaster reconstruction. Significant support for the government’s post-disaster recovery efforts came from two successful programs: the Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias (MDF) and the Java Reconstruction Fund (JRF).
“The MDF and JRF programs have yielded some lessons which will be of interest to the international community, for example, community-based housing reconstruction, livelihoods recovery, and capacity building on disaster risk reduction for regional government and the communities,” said State Minister for National Development and Planning/Head of National Development Planning Agency, Armida Alisjahbana.
The experiences and lessons learned have enriched Indonesians and made us more resilient. This will help us to be more prepared in the future.”
The international conference, entitled Lessons from Indonesia’s Experiences in Disaster Reconstruction and Preparedness, was a forum to share knowledge among practitioners and policy makers.
Both MDF and JRF programs are completing their operations on December 31, 2012. The conference attracted over 500 participants, including representatives from disaster-prone countries such as Haiti, Pakistan and Japan, and was attended by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The MDF and JRF supported a community-led approach to housing reconstruction, built large and small infrastructure, and improved livelihoods. The programs also promoted gender equity, capacity development, and disaster risk reduction.
The government of Indonesia played a central role, coordinating a comprehensive post-disaster reconstruction. The MDF and JRF made a critical contribution to the government’s strategy.
“The MDF and JRF were great successes in addressing these disasters,” said World Bank Country Director for Indonesia, Stefan Koeberle. “A key reason for this was strong government leadership, which established the basis for effective partnerships with donors, international institutions, NGOs, and local communities.”
Donors highlighted the importance of continued sharing of Indonesia’s lessons on disaster recovery and preparedness.
“The winding down of the work with MDF and the JRF is not the end of the story,” said H.E. Julian Wilson, Ambassador of the European Union. “As this conference today shows – we simply are closing one chapter as we open a new one – working with Indonesia in ASEAN as well as the wider international scene on how best to prepare for disasters.”
Aceh’s new governor expressed his appreciation for the assistance rendered to his province, but cautioned that more work remains to be done to achieve prosperity.
“Aceh’s development programs beyond 2012 will require continued attention and support to ensure sustainable economic development by improving capacity of local institutions for service delivery, public financial management, and the continuation of rural livelihoods programs to create more jobs,” said Governor of Aceh.
The MDF was established at the request of the Indonesian government following the December 2004 tsunami, which killed over 200,000 Indonesians and displaced 500,000. The JRF, modeled on the MDF, was established in response to a massive earthquake and a tsunami on Java, which killed over 5,000 people. The JRF later was extended to support reconstruction related to the 2010 eruptions of Mount Merapi.
The MDF’s achievements signify a remarkable reconstruction building or rehabilitating nearly 20,000 houses, over 3,000 km of village roads, nearly 10,000 local infrastructure projects, over 1,200 public buildings, and five national and international ports. The JRF constructed more than 15,000 houses, and completed close to 4,000 local infrastructure projects. The JRF also supported over 15,000 micro and small enterprises to develop their businesses and improve incomes.
About MDF:
Multi Donor Fund (MDF) pools approximately US$655 million in grant funds provided by 15 donors to support implementation of the government’s rehabiliation and reconstruction agenda. This amount is equivalent to approximately 10% of the overall reconstruction effort for Aceh and Nias. At the request of the Indonesian Government, World Bank acts as trustee responsible for managing the MDF. MDF donors consist of the European Union, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the World Bank, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United States of America, Belgium, Finland, New Zealand and Ireland. The MDF works in six outcome areas: recovery of communities, large infrastructure and transport, strengthening governance, sustaining the environment, and enhancing recovery and economic development. The MDF program will come to a close in December 2012.
About JRF:
The Java Reconstruction Fund (JRF) is a multi-donor trust funded grant facility that was set up in response to the earthquake in May 2006 which hit the provinces of Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) and the tsunami in July of 2006 that struck the southern coast of West Java. The trust fund was established at the request from the Government of Indonesia to support the government’s efforts and priorities in reconstructing and rehabilitating the affected areas. The JRF mandate ends in December 2011. The facility, with the World Bank as the trustee, has seven contributing donors. These donors are the European Union, Government of Netherlands, Government of United Kingdom, the Asian Development Bank, Government of Canada, Government of Denmark and Government of Finland. The JRF pools a total of US$94.1 million from these donors.
