Ministry of Social Affairs Holds National Workshop on Shelter and Settlement

MATARAM (August 20, 2019) – The Ministry of Social Affairs of Republic of Indonesia together with International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) held a National Workshop on Shelter and Settlement in Mataram, Lombok, 19-23 August 2019.

“The Ministry of Social Affairs as the coordinator of Shelter and Protection Cluster supervises 8 sub-clusters, one of them is Shelter Sub-Cluster. Inside this sub cluster, one of the duties is to push forwards the shelter service which centered on the public,” said the Social Affairs Minister of Republic of Indonesia Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in his speech which being read by Director General of Social Protection and Security Harry Hikmat in the opening Workshop on Lombok, Tuesday.

The Minister said that in every disaster, the need for shelter was the biggest and most urgent. However, providing the shelter was not only about the new home preparation rfor survivors.

“Providing shelter to the affected community means that we are listening to them, supporting them with the most suitable chosen method for every family concerning the gender equality, inclusive approach, and also respecting the voice from the elderly to the youngster,” he said.
In the process of providing the shelter, he continued, the public were accompanied in provided the proper shelter where every person has their own choice to recover from the disaster’s impact.

So, the shelter was not only about the design and material quality, it also ensured that the assistance provided security, convenience, dignity and created a smooth transition.
The Director General of Social Security and Protection Harry Hikmat said that the disaster management was not always about built an evacuee post, then gathered the survivors into a single location.

“This perspective is not wrong, but it is better if we provide the choice for all survivors to choose the temporary shelter in their family or neighbor’s house which were safe from the disaster,” he said.

It’s been said that the Directorate General of Government had a duty to facilitate them and ensured that their temporary shelter was safe from the aftershocks.

The next example was the Ministry of Social Affairs’ effort on fulfilling the needs of food through the Public Kitchen. The Public Kitchen was not always used a Public Kitchen Vehicle full of kitchen needs, but also could be done by building an independent kitchen which could been managed by the people itself with their kitchen needs.

“And the disaster management pattern which put forward community independence is now being encouraged,” he added.
 
Asbestos Control
Meanwhile in the same place, the Director General explained that the Shelter Sub-Cluster had been done research including the lab test shown that the ruins which were found on Lombok contained asbestos in a dangerous level for human health.

“Therefore, one of the MoSA’s efforts in this Workshop is launching the Asbestos Control Guide on Disaster Situation,” he said.

This was one of many achievements which were done by Shelter Sub-Cluster such as increased the capacity, coordinated as many as 260 companies in the shelter field, created the Shelter Guide Book for Humanity.

“This is certainly cannot be done without the commitment support which is being provided by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC),” said the Director General.

About The National Workshop

The Ministry of Social Affairs together with IFRC held the National Workshop on Shelter and Settlement which was followed by two regional-scale agendas, which is (1) Regional Meeting for Global Shelter Cluster Team; (2) Asia-Pacific Regional Shelter Practitioners Forum.

This event was held in Commemoration of One Year of Lombok Earthquake and World’s Humanity Day on 19 August 2019

The workshop theme was “Support the Public for Secure, Convenience, Dignify and Public-Central Transition”.

The Head of National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB), Lieutenant General of Indonesian National Army Doni Monardo was attended as the Keynote Speech. This event Presented the speakers such as Global Shelter Cluster Coordinator-IFRC Ela Serdaloglu, Vice Governor of NTB Sitti Rohmi Djalilah and Local Secretary of Sulawesi Tengah Hidayat Lamakarate.

The goals of this activity were (1) to Formulate the Shelter Sub-Cluster Working Plan 2019-2022; (2) Sharing the Experience and Composing the Strategy on Shelter; (3) Improve the Capacity and Capability of Shelter Community in Indonesia; (4) Form the Shelter Practitioner Forum in Indonesia.

A number of participant institutions such as Afghan Red Crescent Society, American Red Cross, Association of Resiliency Movement (ARM), National Board of Zakat Disaster Response, Bali Emergency Effort Relief, Canadian Red Cross, Caritas Bangladesh, Caritas Switzerland, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, International Medical Corps, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Social Welfare Research and Development of The Ministry of Social Affairs, MDMC, Mercy Corps Indonesia, Nepal Reconstruction Authority, Nepal Red Cross Society, Pakistan Red Crescent Society, Zakat House, UNDP, UNFPA, Organization of Indonesian Vision (WVI), World Food Programme, Yayasan Sayangi Tunas Cilik, Etc.

Head of Public Relation Bureau of Ministry of Social Affairs Republic of Indonesia
Sonny W. Manalu