"If it used to focus on disaster mitigation, now it must focus more on disaster risk reduction. In the past, it was ‘what to do,’ now it is ‘how to do,’" BNPB's deputy for system and strategy, Raditya Jati, explained at a national seminar on strengthening disaster mitigation systems for community resilience as part of the 2022 Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Month, here on Wednesday.
Indonesia has a national disaster mitigation system, which is regulated by Law No. 24 of 2007, Jati explained. However, he highlighted, there has been a paradigm shift in the approach to mitigating disasters.
In front of disaster experts from BNPB and Regional Disaster Mitigation Agencies (BPBDs) across Indonesia, he emphasized that the disaster mitigation approach must be geared toward the interrelationship between sub-systems.
According to him, the approach must include prioritizing collaboration, inclusion, and multi-stakeholder integration to support community resilience.
The roles of BNPB and BPBD as the coordinator and command of disaster mitigation must also be reinforced, he added.
"We have a disaster risk index and this should be included in the performance indicators of regional chiefs," he said.
Furthermore, the approach to the disaster mitigation system, he said, must be measurable in terms of institution, funding, monitoring, and evaluation.
The national disaster mitigation system must be able to build the nation's resilience in facing disasters, he emphasized.
"This resilience must be formed from the local level; the community and the individual," he explained.
This year, the BNPB is collaborating with the East Kalimantan Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) to commemorate the National Disaster Risk Reduction Month from October 12–14 in Balikpapan city and its surroundings.
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Translator: Arumanto, Kenzu T
Editor: Suharto
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