Helping Build Resilient Communities

Flooding is a perennial problem in Indonesia’s capital city Jakarta. The World Bank works closely with the National Disaster Management agency in crisis response and monitoring. Image: The World Bank

Following the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004, the Government of Indonesia began compiling a comprehensive approach to disaster risk management (DRM). The World Bank has helped through several small interventions, such as preparing the software program InaSafe and supporting the building of ‘safe’ schools, which have had wide-ranging impact and incorporate disaster risk management in overall development planning. This World Bank blog post written in April of 2014 explains some of the challenges, results, and partnerships relevant to these projects.

So many schools in our area are in disaster-prone areas, and if we didn’t take action to safeguard these buildings which are full of children, they are truly high risk places. The Safe Schools program provides our communities with schools that are safe and comfortable, so that our children can learn without worry – Ida Kartika (School principal, Bandung, West Java)

This video shows how the World Bank is working with several government agencies to develop instruments to improve safety culture in the country, including mapping neighborhoods prone to disasters, develop an online tool, and making schools safer from disasters.