Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

COMMUNITY BASED DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Eko Teguh Paripurno
+62818260162/paripurno@upnyk.ac.id

Prologue
Geographic location and geological structures caused Indonesia as a fertile nation,
full of potential, but also vulnerable to disaster. Some of them are earthquake,
flood, landslide, storm, tsunami, forest and land burning and also eruption.
Generally, there are some disasters that is always repeated frequently every year.
Even, disasters are occurred and take it turns occassionally. For example, from
drought into forest and land burning, and it followed with floods. As the results,
we thought that it must be happened as a destiny. Whereas all of those are natural
phenomena within our earth.
Diversity of culture, social, ethnic, religion, spititual, and economic condition and
politic are Indonesias wealth. However, this can be potential as a trigger or even
source of disaster in form of horizontal or vertical conflict. As the results conflicts
can make bad impact, material losses, or even casualties, and resulted in great
amount of refuge or communitys social economic distortion.
Until now we are not able to eliminate the risk of disaster because of those
phenomena. However, the difference between our ability to know, to understand,
and to take action will make some variety for the risk in our life. If we know more
on disaster phenomena, we can take action better. Behaviour and response based
on good knowledge and undesrtanding will low te level od disaster risk in our life.
Great damage as the results of earthquake and tsunami in Aceh, North Sumatera,
Special Province of Yogyakarta, and Central Java can reflect our minds and our
ability how to take action on it; our confusion when series of earthquakes occurred
in Palu and Alor showed us how we were not good enough to understand and know
those phenomena. As the results, we were not fully recognized our action. Above
all of that, instead of learning together, it turned out that we enjoyed the events
to make ourselves rich.
Often we heard that disaster is an event that must be destined to be happened.
When disaster occurred, all actors were worked all out implemented emergency
response action for the victims. Then, we were busy to rehabilitate or reconstruct.
Series of disaster management were appropriately made and blatantly with some
reason. We did emergency response as the results of the people who need it.
Rehabilitation and reconstruction were heaviliy needed to continue our daily
routine normally. And, we can always do it.
1 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

About Disaster
Disaster is a phenomena resulted by trigger, hazard, and vulnerability components
that systematically works altogether that create risk5 in the community. Disaster
happen if community has lower ability that hazard level as potential disaster upon
them. Hazard become disaster if the community are vulnerable and having lower
capacity than disaster level or one of disaster sources. Disaster existence should
not be separated that risk reducing efforts can be implemented. Disaster happen if
the community and its higher social system does not have capacity to manage the
disaster upon them. Hazard, trigger, and vulnerability, does not possess single
characteristics but also more than one characteristics, whether it is parallel or
series, therefore can be called as a complex disaster.
Same thing can be happened on conflict. Conflict within community or social unit
can be both directly or indirectly happened on living assets or something that
disturbing the people to process their assets above. The problem on taking those
assets can be influenced by environmental problem. Community activity or social
unit above which emerge environmental problem can be a threat for the other
parties if their living assets and access are obstructed.
Disaster in daily routine can resulted on (1) changing pattern of life from its
normal condition, (2) wealth/items/human life losses, (3) friction within social
community structures, (4) rapidly increasing needs within private/community.
Therefore, disaster tend to be occurred within vulnerable community, and it might
be worse. Communitys vulnerability can be started from the unsafety of physical
environment, social, and economy condition. Those conditions can be influenced
by internal or external dynamic, such as not possessing growing local institution
community and efficient skills. It can be happened because of the roots of
problem within them. Internal problem commonly seen in form of community
unavailable of structure and power to access sources. Meanwhile, external
problem can be seen in form of inappropriateness economical and political system.
Therefore, disaster management should be done wholeheartedly by raising the
capacity and solving the problem to totally reduce the risk.
Total risk reduction initially implement circumspection principle in every step of
disaster risk management. Disaster risk management is an activity to plan and
manage the disaster; before, whilst, and after disaster. Disaster risk management
is a conceptual workplan focus on threat reduction and potential loss and not in its
consequency and results. Disaster risk management aims to develop safe culture
and to create disaster resilient community.
Circumspection principle is started by monitoring every activity that may cause
any threat to human living and human assets. The threat, slowly or suprisingly will

2 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

be a disaster that may eliminate human life, material, or environmental losses.

Those kinds of occurrence are beyond human capabilities with their sources.
Therefore, risk potential need to be addressed, which is losses or disappearance
( victims, casualties, damages, and economics) caused by certain danger in a
specific place and specific time. The risk can be mathematically calculated as the
probability impact or results of disaster occurrences. The bigger risk potency, the
bigger circumspection should be implemented. There are several ways to reduce
vulnerability, group of conditions that may trigger negative impact on disaster
prevention and management (physical, social, economy, and behavior). For
example: cutting the trees, rock mining, and forest burning.
Cycle of disaster management need to be whole implemented. Impact prevention
is the main thing. To reduce floods, some efforts need to be done by the
community through building infiltration wells, and avoid cutting the trees. To avoid
waste leakage, save procedure and behavioral control need to be addressed.
Although all process to reduce the risk has been done, there is possibility that
disasters are still occurred. Therefore, mitigation is needed, which is series of
efforts minimizing disaster impact. There are two kinds of mitigation; structural
mitigation, in form of building the infrastructure to minimize the impact, and nonstructural mitigation, in form of regulation arrangements, spatial planning
management, and training.
Those efforts above must be supported with preparedness, way to anticipate
disaster, through organising effective, correct, and responsive steps. In this
preparedness, to strengthen early warning system is important, which is series of
efforts to give warning signal that disaster will be likely occurred. The example of
this can be seen by making a device that can inform the community if there is any
undesirable content element rising in the river or well within threat core. Early
warning system must be; (1) accessible, (2) immediate, (3) coherent, and (4)
official.
In the end, if the disaster have come at the worst, emergency response, which is
immediate action during disaster, to counter and reduce greater impact, especially
in saving living assets and casualties. Helping relief synergically is also needed,
which is an effort to help the community related to their basic needs: nutrition,
clothing, temporary house, sanitation, health facility and clean water.
To avoid continuous impact, environmental and community recovery are needed
through refunction the facility and infrastructure like before, not only by
recovering basic facility and service (road, electricity, clean water, market, health
centre, etc) but damaged ecological functions also need to be recovered. Those
efforts, especially within short-term, are considered as rehabilitation, which is an
effort after disaster, helping community to rebuild their house, public facility,
important social facility, and revive again their economics life and ecological

3 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

functions. As it is happened, environmental problem were still focusing on physical

action, not ecological function. Then, reconstruction is a medium-term and longterm effort improving physical, social and economic aspects to bring community
life to a same condition or even better as before.
If it seen from the time, threat can be suddenly emerged; gradual, predictable,
and monitored threat; and seasonal threat in a certain period of time. Sudden
threat tends to create sudden disaster (for example, flash floods). It is also seen in
gradual and seasonal threat, which tends to emerge gradual disaster (upstream
flood) and seasonal (tidal flood and puddle). This threat status can be depend on
individual capaciy or community within early warning system. In oter words, threat
which is understood as a sudden threat by a person or community can create a
good early warning system for the another person or community.
Each of person, community, or bigger social unit develop their adjustment system
capacity in responding threat. The respond can be in short term namely
adjustment mechanim or much longer term namely as adaptation mechanism.
Mechanism to face changes in a sort term will aim to acess basic needs: security,
clothing, foods, meanwhile, longer term aims for living resources.
Disaster will reduct any community capacity to control or access living assets. Even
in several disaster, the living assets within were annihilated at all. Those kind of
capacity reduction will enable disaster to come over and over again in a certain
area or community. I the other side, community capacity to handle disaster risk
will depend on living assets that they possess.
According to sustainable living concept, there are five living assets possessed by a
person or greater social unit within their efforts to develop their life: (capital
assets, modal possessed by human beings, which are skills, working ability, and
health; (2) social assets, social wealth owned by community such as network or
bound based on beliefs; (3) nature and environmental assets, resource provision
such as land, water, air quality, security towards erosion; (4) physical and manmade assets such as basic infrastructure and produces needed items in form of
transportation, safe permanent living place, sanitation, sufficient water provision,
and communication access; (5) financial assets; financial resources used by
community to reach their living goals, such as money and items deposit.

About community participation

Community is a widely used term. A general concept of community is that they are
in a harmony, have same interests and aspiration, and restricted by same values
and goals. This definition means that community is homogenous. In fact, a
community can be distinguished by social and diversity aspects. Gender, class,
caste, wealth, age, ethnic, religion, language, and other distinguished aspect
4 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

which can support them within the community. Beliefs, interests, and values
within community memmber can be contradict with each other. Therefore,
community does not need to be homogenous.
In this community based disaster risk management, community can be defined as a
group of people that have one or two similarity (es) such as living in the same
place, exposed by same threat, or expereinced same disaster impact. Community
may have same problem, anxiety. And hopes on disaster risk. The people who live
in a community have different vulnerability and capacity, nevertheless. For
example, men and women, both of them have certain superiority or weakness.
Community participation is a process to give more authority to the community to
solve the problem together. Authority distribution will be implemented based on
coomunity level of involvement within the activity. It is aiming to find better
answer as the problem come, by giving the community more important
contribution that implementation can be more effective, efficient, and
sustainable. Community participation is started from defining a concept,
construction, operational-maintenance, evaluation, and monitoring. There are
seven steps based on interactional mechanism: (1) refusal; (2) sharing information;
(3) no-comment-consultation; (4) concensus and mutual agreement; (5)
collaboration; (6) sharing risk and affirmation; (7) empowerment and partnership;
furthermore, the level of participation can be strengthened from meaningful
participation tendency for community, becomes with community, and in the
end, by community.
There are various stakeholders and actors within community based disaster risk
management process. Generally, stakeholders of disaster maangement can be
categorized into three groups: (i) beneficiaries, community that receives direct or
indirect benefit; (ii) intermediary, community group, institution or private that
may give consideration or facilitation in disaster management, such as: consultant,
expert, NGO, and professionals in disaster field, and (iii) policy makers,
institutions/agency who have authority in making decision and regulation such as
govenrmental institution and council of disaster.
Stakeholders can be decided and chosen through four-steps stakeholder analysis
method; (a) stakeholder identification; (b) stakeholder interest assessment on
disaster management activity; (c) stakeholder impact and benefit assessment, and
(d) plan formulation of participation strategy within every phase of disaster
management. Every process is done through promoting learning activity and raising
community potential to be actively participate, and also providing opportunity to
take action and having authority in decision making process and resources
allocation within disaster management program.
Role of the community in development process is important because there is no
one who can understand more about the problem within local level except the

5 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

community itself, and there is no one who is more interested to understand their
problem and their stake living and welfare as well, except the community itself.
Therefore, local community must be involved in identification and problem solving
related to disaster vulnerability and information must be received by the
community through easy-to-understand language and way. There were more
evidence showed that most of disaster risk management and its top-down program
has never reached specific needs of vulnerable community, neglected resources
potential and local capacity, and in several cases, were raised community
dependence and its vulnerability, as well.
As the result, practitioners of disaster risk managament reached general
agreement to emphasize community based disaster risk management program. It
means that vulnerable community itself will be involved in an implementation and
its planning with all local, province, and national entity in form of partnership.
The goal of disaster risk reduction by the community is to reduce the risk and
strengthening community capacity to face the risk. Their immediate involvement
to apply risk prevention actions are an obligatory. Some writers distinguish the
term between community participation and community involvement. Participation
and involvement will take turns to be done, which means that the comunity is
responsible to do all phases of the program, including involvement and
participation. In the end, the outcom eof the participation in disaster management
is disaster management by community itself.
Experience in implementing community-oriented disaster management will refer
to: (1) the effort to reduce the risk with the community in disaster-prone area, so
that the community is able overcoming disaster risk independently; (2) avoid new
emerged vulnerability and community dependency within disaster-prone area to
outside part; (3) manage disaster risk, which is inseparable part of development
and management for sustainable living within community inside disaster-prone
area; (4) have multisector, multidisciplinary, and multicultural.
Furthermore, it refers to important things as follow: (1) focus of the disaster risk
management is the local community. (2) risk prevention is the objective. The main
strategy is to raise the capacity and vulnerable group of resources and to reduce
their vulnerability in order to prevent disaster in the future. (3) recognition on
connectivity between disaster risk management and development process. This
approach assumes that to handle poverty, discrimination, marginalization, weakgovernance, shabby politics and economics management, are the basic causes of
disaster. Therefore, overcoming them will improve living qualiy and environment.
(4) community is the key source in disaster risk management. Community is the
main actor and beneficiary in process of disaster risk management. (5) applying
multisector and multidisciplinary approaches; uniting lots of local community and
even stakeholders in disaster risk management to extend resource basis. (6) it is a

6 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

dynamic and developing framework. From the learning and practices, theory can
be developed. Sharing experience, methodology, community instrument, and
experts are always continuing to enrich the practice. (7) having recognition that
difference communities have different perceptions about risk, especially between
men and women. They may have various difference experiences and ability to
handle the risk. Therefore, it may influence their perception on how to overcome
the risk. To know the difference between them are important. (8) every
community and group possess different vulnerability and capacity. Those
differences can be influenced by age, gender, class, occupation, ethnicity,
language, religion, and physical location.

CBDRM process
As mentioned above, community based disaster risk management is a process to
encourage community in disaster-prone area in order to be able to handle the
threat in their environment and its vulnerability as well. Therefore, community
must be actively participate in identification, analysis, action, monitoring, and
evaluation in term of disaster risk. It means that community serve as the centre
within the implementation of disaster risk management activity.
There are some trend in overcoming community based disaster risk, based on the
experience. Although not linear and not in chronological order, some steps below
may be used for a reference.
1. Situation and conditional analysis. It is used to predict needs for disaster
management. This must be applied to create suitability between needs and
resources provided. Situation analysis can be started from composing community
profiles to understand disaster risk through participative research on: historical
information of disaster, geo-climate, physical, spatial, and sociopolitical-cultural
characteristics, and economic acitivity within vulnerable groups.
2. Context understanding. Mobilization for understanding context can be
implemented through accurate intervention, doing activities together, deepen the
disaster risk context through training, sharing experience, and the others such as:
disaster management and emergency, emergency sufferer handling, disaster
monitoring and supervising, policy advocacy, microeconomic and the others.
3. Participative risk assessment. It is about whole assessment on community
exposure towards disaster and analysis on their vulnerability and their capacity
within their activity, project, and program to reduce the risk. Risk assessment is a
participative process to determine behavior, scope, and amount of negative impact
of the disaster on household and community in a predicted period. Community
disaster risk assessment also facilitates a process to determine possible or trending
impact (damage or losses) on risky living assets. Community disaster risk
7 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

assessment includes: community perception on risk, disaster mapping (on

characteristics), vulnerability mapping, capacity mapping in overcoming disaster,
risk assessment and evaluation, potential mapping on resources, and its
mobilization, and analyzing and joint-reporting to the community.
4. Program planning and formulation. program planning and formulation is
implemented though risk analysis result. This planning includes: objective
formulation (increasing capacity and reducing vulnerability to intensify the ability
to prevent, mitigate, and preparing for themselves), benefit and result (of
reducing the risk), planning important event, identifying and financial campaign,
and formulating program plan.
5. Program implementation and monitoring. The objective of this program is to
reach formulated planning agreement that is possible to prevent the risk. Some
activities include: organizing event organizer, mobilizing resources, implementing
planned programs, monitoring its activity, and utilizing monitoring results to
improve risk reduction activity in the future.
6. assessment and feedback. Assessment and feedback tend to be applied rarely.
Program assessment that is adapted with the result to hush the disaster is
expected to be used since early ages to find effort effectiveness. Later on,
evaluation result will be used for other community empowerment in improving
disaster risk prevention.
7. dissemination and integration. Both of them are the process of documentation
and success practices learning and dissemination towards community and other
areas in order to reduce similar disaster as mnuch as possible. Dissemination will
not only in term of geographic dissemination, but also both in sectoral
dissemination and integrating efforts on reducing disaster risk in the development
and other living aspects to civilize disaster risk prevention.
8. institutionalization and consultative. The outcome of this process is to complete
community-based disaster prevention institute (to push community in disaster risk
prevention) to keep sustainability, dissemination, and integration. In this step,
consultative mechanism between organization and other actors are established.
This is important because intervention process in this will involve other parties
which commonly as a part of whole risk prevention. Hence, community must
continue those programs individually. This institutionalization is to ensure that risk
prevention efforts will never stop.

CBDRM Parameter/Indicators

8 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

Indicator or parameter to form resilient community can be composed as below:

1. There is communitys ability in assessing and understanding threat, capacity,
vulnerability, and risk participatively which supported by local and scientific
knowledge.
2. there is CBDRM which participatively composed by involving all stakeholders,
which is enthusiastically accepted as inseparable part of development plan in
Musrebang in order to be accomodated in CBDRM plan and regional development
plan.
3. there is ability to mobilize resources within internal community (and social
environment above) to implement CBDRM plan and ability to mobilize and to
manage external resources.
4. there is community organization for CBDRM which represents groups of
community to accomodate and to revitalize local institution for CBDRM needs.
5. there is learning system for CBDRM community organization and community
group representation, on vulnerability reduction, and capacity strengthening which
suitable with their needs.
6. there is training system in community which is suitable with types of hazard and
level of risk. It is identified by CBDRM community organization and the people
itself, according with the requirement standard and they are able to explore their
ability to do self-empowerment in preventing disaster management.
7. there is understanding and sustainable risk prevention and living within
community through management on resources, living assets, social security
network, environmental sustainability, and efficient technology, and other daily
routines.
8. there are community-based early information system (EIS), community-based
early detection system (EDS), and community-based early warning system (EWS),
which is trusted and reachable within community in disaster-prone area; local
wisdom-based, integrated with efficient technology. It is also must be accurate in
order to be managed by community.
9. there is independent, resilient, and skillful Village Standby Team, with proper
and sufficient facility and good coordination mechanism and decisionmaking;
10. there is participatively standby plan and contingency plan in community level
for every types and main threat based on expert judgement and expert research by
utilizing wide local resources.
11. there is CBDRM group discussion consists of stakeholders within town/regency
level (including Regional Working Unit/SKPD who have related mandate in

9 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

vulnerability, threat management, capacity strengthening in CBRDM) which can

encourage CBDRM practice.
12. there is partnership and agreement in classificating the roles and
responsibilities on capacity strengthening, defining responsibility, and decision
making to administer financial resource, knowledge, skills, formal and informal
information which may encourage CBDRM practice.
13. there is guidance and coordination in emergency, rehabilitation or
reconstruction management especially to help community obtains their planned,
effective, and efficient preparedness and emergency response equipment, which
covers social charity, psychology, health, and public facility rescue; which are
based on local ability, volunteerism, and mutual cooperation.
14. there is mutual vision with community and stakeholders related to disaster
preparedness and commitment on effective and accountable CBDRM
implementation priority, and livelihood practice and organizing that may reduce
risks.
15. there is institutionalization framework and law system and its policy that can
bolster CBDRM as development process.
16. there is disaster risk mapping by inclosing community participation and
supported by scientific knowledge for priority disaster.
17. there is vulnerability reducing system (sustainably disaster barn system,
income diversity system and occupation develpoment system; disaster-resistant
house, praying places, and other various public facilities);

CBDRM Principles
The guideline principles on CBDRM implementation are formulated as below:
1. community at disaster risk and stricken is the active subject to build up their
life.
2. implementing disaster risk management program with the community in disaster
prone area, therefore they are able to manage the risk independently.
3. avoiding future vulnerability and community dependance in disaster prone area
with other various parts.
4. disaster risk management is an inseparable process of resources development
and management, in order to create sustainable community within disaster prone
area.

10 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

5. multisector, multidisciplinary, and multicultural approach

6. holistic approach (through whole risk management step) and integrative
(integrating programs and other needs).
7. participative since planning phase until the end of program (level, groups, and
gender).
8. empowerment, not back to normality in order to avoid the same hazard and
disaster.
9. avoiding shambles existing system, including tradision.beliefs within.
10. doing local partnership that program will be continue, and choosing area that
needs outsiders intervention.
11. opening ourselves up to facilitate other institutions.
12. prioritizing local roles and participation in facing disaster.
13. emphasizing education program to community
14. transparency
15. trust
16. non-profit
17. community skills are used and utilized through their involvement
18. assessment on damage, needs, and ability are mutually done with community
by considering gender, culture, and age.
19. aid consists of material, institutional/organizational aspects to overcome root
cause of vulnerability
20. disaster management is everyones responsibility. Meanwhile, disaster
organization has role as the stalwart.
21. the objective is to reduce great vulnerability and increase community ability in
order to handle the disaster preferably.

Recommendation On CBDRM Activities

There are some activities that may be implemented:
1. facilitating community-strengthening capability in assessing and understanding
threat, capacity, and risk participatively that is supported by local and scientific
knowledge.
11 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

2. facilitating CBDRM action plan preparation which is participatively prepared by

involving related stakeholders, who enthusiastically accepted as inseparable part
of development plan in Public Participation in Collaborative Assembling for
Development Planning (musrenbang) to be realized in Local Development Planning
and Disaster Risk Management action plan.
3. facilitating mobilization strengthening within internal community resources (and
social order beyond) to implement CBDRM action plan and mobility to manage
their complementary external resources.
4. facilitating community organization for CBDRM organization as the
representation of existing community or reinvigorate local organization for CBDRM
activity.
5. facilitating learning method arrangement for CBDRM organization and
community in terms of threat, vulnerability reduction and capacity strengthening
understanding and management that are in accordance with their needs.
6. facilitating training system in community which is in accordance with disaster
risk level and hazard. It is identified by CBDRM organization and society itself, that
is suitable with villagers need and also, they must be able to explore local ability
to empower themselves in overcoming impact of disaster.
7. facilitating sustainable living and risk prevention and understanding within
community through resource management, living assets management, social
security network, environmental preserve, appropriate knowledge, and other
various daily routines.
8. facilitating early warning system, early detection system, and early information
system, which are based on community and local wisdom in disaster-prone area; it
also must be accurate, efficient, manageable by community.
9. facilitating resilient, strong, and skillful standby village team, with numerous
facility and possessing good decision making and coordination mechanism.
10. facilitating standby plan and contingency plan in community level for every
types and main threat based on expert judgement and expert research by utilizing
wide local resources.
11. facilitating CBDRM group discussion consists of stakeholders within town/
regency level (including Regional Working Unit/SKPD who have related mandate in
vulnerability, threat management, capacity strengthening in CBRDM) which can
encourage CBDRM practice.
12. facilitating partnership and agreement in classificating the roles and
responsibilities on capacity strengthening, defining responsibility, and decision

12 of 13

Knowledge Information Sheet of CBDRM #1 - 20151125

making to administer financial resource, knowledge, skills, formal and informal

information which may encourage CBDRM practice.
13. facilitating guidance and coordination in emergency, rehabilitation or
reconstruction management especially to help community obtains their planned,
effective, and efficient preparedness and emergency response equipment, which
covers social charity, psychology, health, and public facility rescue; which are
based on local ability, volunteerism, and mutual cooperation.
14. building mutual vision with community and stakeholders related to disaster
preparedness and commitment on effective and accountable CBDRM
implementation priority, and livelihood practice and organizing that may reduce
risks.
15. building institutionalization framework and law system and its policy that can
bolster CBDRM as development process.
16. composing disaster risk mapping by inclosing community participation and
supported by scientific knowledge for priority disaster.
17. facilitating vulnerability reducing system (sustainably disaster barn system,
income diversity system and occupation develpoment system; disaster-resistant
house, praying places, and other various public facilities);

13 of 13