Humanitarian Preparedness

Brief background

Indonesia ratified the Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities in 2011, enacting Law number 19 of 2011 on the Ratification of the Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities. To ensure the fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities, the Government issued Law number 18 of 2016 concerning Persons with Disabilities. The existence of the Act served as a regulatory umbrella for persons with disabilities and guaranteed their protection from all forms of injustice, violence, and discrimination. To provide more comprehensive and clear guidance, the Government issued six Presidential Regulations on:

The Government, through BNPB and the relevant government ministries/institutions, adapted the cluster mechanism in 2014. As a follow-up, the Ministry of Social Affairs - as the Coordinator for Displacement and Protection Cluster (Klaster PP) – formed the Sub-cluster for the Protection of the Elderly, People with Disability, and Other Vulnerable Groups with the enactment of Ministerial Regulation Number 24/2015 on the Guideline for Displacement and Protection Cluster.

While disability inclusion was clearly a priority for the Government, people with disabilities still faced challenges in society, including underestimation of their presence, and lack of respect for their rights, particularly during emergency responses.

Across humanitarian and emergency response context in Indonesia, people with disabiilties and other at risk groups, particularly internally displaces persons (IDPs) have historically been underrepresemted in data system and insufficiently adressed in preparednedd and response planning. This gap has limited the ability of humanitarian actors to anticipate risks and deliver assistance for differentiated needs. 

In respond to this backdrop, WFP and UN partners pursued sets of initiatives that strengthened disability inclusion across humanitarian preparedness:

At the global level, the IASC had already published the Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. As such, it was necessary to review and analyze existing regulatory documents and their implementations while simultaneously exploring the IASC Guidelines to identify gaps and possible future improvements. The Guidelines would serve as a reference in integrating disaster inclusion into the HCT Contingency Plan.

How we went about it

The objective was – in collaboration with government and non-government partners - to advocate for the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action with various stakeholders in Indonesia, as well as enriching the HCT contingency plan with the guidelines. An easily accessible, succinct report analysing the existing regulations/guidelines being implemented was produced.

Working with key Indonesian humanitarian partners, the integration of disability inclusion in humanitarian preparedness and response activities was assessed and improved. This required understanding of how persons with disabilities had been included in previous response plans, and what improvements could be made to complement advancing the UNDIS and UNCT Disability Inclusion scorecard.

Integrating Anticipatory Action in Indonesia

Anticipatory Action (AA) is defined as acting ahead of predicted dangerous event to prevent or reduce impacts on lives, livelihoods and humanitarian need before they fully unfold. AA in Indonesia is grounded in the Disaster Management Law and its regulations. Under Presidential Regulation No. 21 and 22/2008. Derived from Law No. 24/2007, a Siaga Darurat (Emergency Alert) can be issued based on early warnings. This declaration compels government agencies at all levels to mobilize resources and take swift action. Through its AA framework, WFP integrated disability into early warning risk analysis, and pre-emptive response planning. This approach moved beyond reactive assistance by identifying who is most at risk before disaster occurs, especially with person with disabiliities facing multiple layer of vulnerabirities during disasters. Anticipatory triggers and response planning were informed by vulnerability profiling and coordination with national and subnational authorities, ensuring alignment with government systems and social protection mechanisms.

📄 Integrating Anticipatory Action in Indonesia

🔗 https://www.wfp.org/publications/integrating-anticipatory-action-indonesia 

Inclusive Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Emergency Preparedness and Response Practice Guide

The WFP has taken important steps to progress disability inclusion across its programming and operations. The study explored WFP’s programming in Indonesia and the Philippines, including WFP’s advisory, technical assistance and service provision roles to government and partners and informed the development of this guide. As general guidance on disability inclusion is increasingly available, the purpose of this guide is to contextualize disability inclusion in WFP’s emergency preparedness and response programming. The guide builds on core reference materials, such as the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, 2019. While of wider relevance, this guide is directed at WFP’s EPR programming in Asia and the Pacific.

Indonesia now has a complete legal system that mentions EPR in disability laws and addresses disability inclusion in EPR regulations.

In Asia and the Pacific, laws requiring disability inclusion in EPR are becoming more prevalent. The following are some instances of Indonesian national laws and regulations that are specifically related to EPR:

The purpose of this guide is to ensure consistency in implementing emergency preparedness and response (EPR). The guide provided tools, checklist, and operation that helped mainstream disability inclusion across preparedness, response, and monitoring. 

📄Inclusive Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Emergency Preparedness and Response Practice Guide

🔗 https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000157131/download/

Learning and Good Practices: Disaggregated Internal Discplaced People (IDPs) Data and Information Management

This book provides an illustration on the importance of disagregated data management, particularly based on sex, age, and disability (Sex, Age, and Disability Disaggregated Data/SADDD) which are becoming more crucial for disaster management in Indonesia. From creating operational strategies to meeting the requirements of vulnerable populations like infants, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities, the data play a crucial part in guaranteeing an effective response.This approach is mandated by law No. 24 of 2007 and BNPB Regulation No. 1 of 2023.

The implementation of this data and information management initiative has generated valuable lessons learned, which are expected to be replicated and disseminated to a wider range of stakeholders. BNPB also appreciates the initiative to document these lessons as a form of knowledge sharing through the development of a publication.

The creation of disability data report in Indonesia involves several critical actors with distinct mandates and contributions. At the governmental level, the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) holds primary responsibility for disability data collection and management, particularly through the SIMPD-DTKS database that informs social protection targeting. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) serves as the technical data collection authority, conducting national surveys (SUSENAS, SUPAS) and the Population Census that provide disability prevalence statistics, though it requires Kemensos authorization for disability-specific surveys. The National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) plays a crucial coordination role by integrating disability indicators into the national development framework (RPJMN) and SDGs monitoring. On the international front, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) commissioned this research to map Indonesia's disability data gaps and advocate for improved data disaggregation aligned with CRPD commitments. UN specialized agencies, particularly UNFPA, UNICEF, and WHO, have provided technical assistance in adapting the Washington Group Short Set questions and developing inclusive data collection instruments. Development partners such as Australian DFAT and GIZ have funded capacity-building programs and mainstreamed Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) across their initiatives. 

📄Learning and Good Practices: Disaggregated Internal Discplaced People (IDPs) Data and Information Management

🔗https://indonesia.unfpa.org/en/publications/learning-and-good-practices-disaggregated-internal-discplaced-people-idps-data-and

Results

The concluding workshop

A workshop was held to encourage stakeholders to increase their efforts in promoting the involvement of persons with disabilities in disaster emergency management plans. Participants were encouraged to:

Ø Identify and remove barriers so that persons with disabilities have access to appropriate assistance,

Ø Empower and build capacity of persons with disabilities, and

Ø Obtain data disaggregated by sex, age and disability.