Humanitarian Programme

Indonesia suffers from both natural disasters and man-made conflict.

The archipelago lies on volcanic fault lines and faces a wide range of natural hazards including tropical flooding, earthquakes and drought.

Oxfam's humanitarian programme has hree key strategies for addressing humanitarian emergencies in Indonesia:

• humanitarian action
• conflict reduction
• and disaster management

Oxfam started a large humanitarian operation in Aceh to respond to the devastating earthquakes and tsunami in December 2004 and on Nias Island in March 2005.

Humanitarian Action Programme

Oxfam’s projects in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), North Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Kalimantan, Maluku and West Papua work directly with communities and with partners to assist people affected by natural disasters and conflicts by:

• Securing access to enough food and income for the most vulnerable people through distribution of agriculture produce and the development of income generating activities.
• Improving access to water and sanitation, decreasing communities’ exposure to disease and reducing morbidity and mortality.
• Ensuring adequate shelter provisions for homeless families by providing plastic sheets and housing materials.
• Working with partner organisations and government to meet international standards and practices with respect to organisational development and gender equality, in accordance with SPHERE, and Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (GPID).

Reaping the benefits : A few days in, the project is already making a difference.

 Before the street cleaning started we couldn't walk down this street. It was disgusting. I feel happier now that the street's being cleaned. It's easier to walk down. The drains will soon be working properly, so the water won't be coming into the house anymore,
says Ngatini, a villager from Banda Aceh.

 

Disaster Management Programme

Disaster Management is crucial in Indonesia prone to natural disasters. Since 1999, Oxfam has been working in provinces such as Nusa Tenggara Timur, West Kalimantan and Central Java with focus on:

• Working with local NGOs, district governments and communities to address the impacts of natural disasters and to reduce vulnerability to risks that they pose.
• Increasing the capacity of communities to mitigate the risk of disasters and increase awareness of how natural disasters impact the livelihoods of poor people.
• Working towards the adoption of a National Disaster Management Bill.

Conflict Reduction Programme

Humanitarian programmes within Oxfam traditionally dealt more with responding to the suffering caused by violent conflicts until late 1990s.

However, from 2002 the programme in Indonesia also started to address the causes of conflict by:

• Reducing levels of violence and threats of violence by increasing community capacity to manage social tension in a constructive and non-violent manner.
• Ensuring that the communities affected by conflict are adequately represented in the peace making process
• Rebuilding community links and facilitates the return and integration of internally displaced people (IDPs).

Baku Bae, a traditional term widely used in Maluku, means "Be kind to each other.” It is a community-based conflict reduction movement from which local leaders including kings, chiefs of combat and ex-combatants initiate and maintain dialogues to halt the violence in their territory and to recover the communities in access to basic education and livelihood.

One outgrowth from their work has been the establishment of a neutral zone where conflicting communities agree that no arms are allowed in the area so that children can go to schools safely and people can trade their goods in informal markets safely.

Back to Indonesia in depth overview

Last updated: June 05