The most important thing is to manage the village fund well, thus its utilization is right on target...
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Ministry is continuing to push for the self-care and resilience of rural communities in dealing with disasters through the disbursement of village funds.

"Disaster (mitigation) can be included in village fund spending," director for harmonization of natural resources and environment utilization at the ministry, Sumarlan, said at the “XV National Conference on Community-Based Disaster Risk Mitigation,” which was followed online from here on Tuesday.

In addition to disaster mitigation, the use of village funds must also be harmonized with economic and health management to improve community resilience in the midst of disasters, he emphasized.

Disaster mitigation policies in villages are based on the Circular of the Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Minister regarding the preparation and coordination for disaster mitigation, which was issued on October 16, 2020.

The circular was followed by the Decree of the Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Minister Number 71 of 2021 on the guidelines for handling disasters in villages, which described the activities and budgets for disaster prevention, preparedness, emergency response, rehabilitation, and reconstruction.

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Furthermore, the Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Minister’s Regulation Number 7 of 2021 concerning the village fund spending priorities in 2022 states that village funds must be used to restore the national economy, run national priority programs, as well as mitigate and handle natural and non-natural disasters to support the achievement of the Village Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In addition, the ministry has issued the Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Minister’s Regulation Number 8 of 2022 on village fund utilization priorities in 2023.

"The most important thing is to manage the village fund well, thus its utilization is right on target, hence, people throughout Indonesia can carry out disaster mitigation appropriately," the director remarked.

From 2015 to 2021, the government has disbursed a total of Rp400.85 trillion in funds for 74,953 villages across Indonesia.

The allocation of village funds has increased every year, reaching Rp20.67 trillion in 2015, Rp46.98 trillion in 2016, Rp60 trillion in 2017, Rp60 trillion in 2018, Rp70 trillion in 2019, Rp71.2 trillion in 2020, and Rp72 trillion in 2021.

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Translator: Sugiharto Purnama, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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