Purpose:

This report reviews the key chapters of Indonesia’s Disaster Management Law of 2007 and its ancillary regulations relating to international assistance, discussing the new agencies that it established and the legal framework which spans from pre-disaster, to emergency response, to post-disaster management.

The findings of the report highlight both the strengths and challenges that have emerged regarding the implementation of the legal framework during recent disaster response operations in Indonesia. They suggest that, in the case of some small scale disasters such as the Yogyakarta volcanic eruption in 2010, national and local capacity is building in such a way that international assistance is not always required.

Overview:

The recommendations made in this report refer specifically to:

• Improving understanding and awareness of the legal framework: Indonesia could benefit from initiatives to promote a wider understanding of the law, regulations and guideline, and the roles, responsibilities and processes therein.
• Eligibility and enforcement: The procedures that are in place to approve the participation of international assisting actors could be further developed to incorporate a set of requirements to make these actors eligible for participation, and to link their adherence to humanitarian principles with eligibility for legal facilities.
• Initiation and termination of assistance: The processes required to initiate international assistance (e.g. damage and needs assessment, determination of the scale of disaster, declaration of emergency status etc.) are somewhat scattered throughout the law and regulations. These could be better consolidated and the processes made more consistent across the legal framework, or consolidated in one part of the law.
• Legal facilities for entry and operations: The legal framework could benefit from a reflection on the current scope of its ‘easy access’ provisions and the period for which these apply, integrating all legal facilities as contained in the IDRL Guidelines.

Usage: Learning from experience

Audience: National Society leadership, Technical staff

For related documents, see:

• For Bahasa Indonesia version of the document, click Undang-Undang Tanggap Darurat Bencana Internasional, size 2 MB
• For International Disaster Response Law Snapshot in Indonesia, click IDRL  Snapshot, size 0.5 MB
• For Law and Disaster Risk Reduction in Indonesia Snapshot, click LDRR Snapshot, size 0.51 MB