Last June, some people writing numbers with their bodies have aroused the curiosity of the inhabitants of Hiligoduhoya village. This display took place as part of a sixteen-month Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) project designed to tackle the lack of communities’ preparedness to and resilience against natural disasters such as floods, tsunamis and earthquakes.

One of the world’s most disaster-prone areas

Indonesia is located on the “ring of fire” which makes the country extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. Nias Island as well as the sub-district of Lahewa are no exception and were severely affected by the 2004 tsunami and the devastating 2005 earthquake. Vulnerability to earthquakes, tsunamis and floods has resulted in a large number of casualties and considerable economic loss in recent years.

Training and awareness-raising activities to mitigate disaster risks

ACTED’s project aims at creating an effective community-based Disaster Risk Reduction management in 10 villages and will benefit 11,000 people living under threat of disaster. Schools, village authorities and communities will be sensitized to DRR through activities, trainings and awareness-raising campaigns. Good practices such as the planting of mangroves to prevent tsunamis or the construction of retaining walls against flooding will be encouraged. Overall, ACTED will support inhabitants as they implement community-based mitigation plans.

Empowering the structures in charge of DRR

To mitigate disaster risks, ACTED supports existing governmental entities in charge of DRR – the Satlinmas – through capacity building and empowerment activities. These structures operate at the community level and are composed of head of villages, informal leaders, women representatives and young people, usually appointed by the communities themselves. Satlinmas have been created in Lahewa but their members have not been trained and do not really know their role. ACTED’s objective is therefore to organize training sessions emphasizing the role of Satlinmas and their responsibilities as well as disaster-related issues such as the causes of natural catastrophes. All ten Satlinmas of the target area were trained in June. As community participation is a core component of an effective response, community-based disaster risk management and participatory risk assessment concepts and tools were taught to Satlinmas members.

Hiligoduhoya’s Satlinmas members were appreciative of the training they received and ACTED will continue  to support these entities. Through ACTED’s project, community members will implement community-based disaster risk management. Building the capacity of local leaders is thus the first step towards empowering communities to design effective responses and improve their preparedness and resilience against future disasters.