International Recovery Platform (IRP) regional workshop

Background and context

The recovery from the May 27, 2006 earthquake, at Yogyakarta and Central Java is considered as a successful case within Southeast Asia. For three years, the recovery process has proceeded smoothly due to well-coordinated efforts of various actors, including national and local governments, local communities, and international organizations and donors. Local Resource Institutions (LRIs) from government, NGOs, and academe in Indonesia have compiled several lessons on recovery from this experience. Specifcally, the Gadjah Mada University (UGM), with experience as a hub for resource mobilization and fostering partnerships amongst stakeholders for recovery processes, has accumulated several lessons that are relevant to the international community. Sharing these lessons amongst countries of Southeast Asia offers added value to recovery operations in the region. In addition, lessons from recent recovery operations in the region are to be shared, to draw common lessons for a regional strategy on recovery.

The International Recovery Platform (IRP) coordinates International and Regional Workshops on Recovery to ensure disaster reduction approaches are systematically incorporated in the design of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery programs. This regional workshop provides opportunity for policymakers, practitioners, and academe to share experiences and learn from recovery operations as well as agree on priorities in addressing gaps in recovery operations, unique to the region.

This workshop is unique in that it represents an attempt to engage academe in recovery efforts. The workshop aims to discuss and disseminate the lessons drawn from the Yogyakarta recovery experience, as documented by the collaborative study commissioned by Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) and conducted by UGM for IRP.

Objectives

The workshop will facilitate collaborative relationships among policymakers, practitioners, academe, and wider community of practice in the region and provide thematic base material for recovery policy in the region, with learning’s from the Yogyakarta Earthquake study, and other regional experiences. The specific objectives of the workshop are:

• To present multi-stakeholders review of Recovery Status of the Central Java Earthquake 2006
• To review the implementation of specific recovery plans and programmes
• To disseminate the experiences and lessons learnt drawn from the analyses of reviews, case studies, and surveys
• To compare and analyze the recovery experiences of other Southeast Asian countries and build up knowledge base for disaster risk reduction among the community of practice in the region
• To draw out universal knowledge from actual cases while identifying indigenous knowledge that fits in the specific context of the region
• To provide base material for a prospective “ASEAN Post-Disaster Recovery Strategy”
• To create a network for sharing knowledge and expertise on disaster recovery among policymakers, practitioners, academe, and community of practice in Southeast Asia

Expected outcomes

The workshop will provide the following outcomes:

• Updated Recovery Status Report on Central Java Earthquake 2006 in consultation with BNPB and other relevant stakeholders
• Strengthened partnership between IRP and ASEAN particularly in the area of post-disaster recovery
• Outlined key considerations for the formulation of an “ASEAN Post-Disaster Recovery Strategy”
• Agreed mechanism for regulatory and systematic review of implementing recovery plans and programmes in the region linking with the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) and ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA)
• Expanded “IRP Academic Network” through linkage with ASEAN University Network (AUN)
• Identified effective approaches for utilizing indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) to enhance recovery processes
• Identified universal knowledge on recovery that could be utilized by IRP in developing international guidelines and guidance notes
• Facilitated greater linkage between government and academic institutions in the design and implementation of collaborative recovery programs in the region
• Created wider IRP network in Southeast Asia covering policymakers, practitioners, and academe to facilitate knowledge management