DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Fostering Resilient Recovery in Displaced Communities via School-based Hubs

Project disclaimer

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Description

This project seeks to foster the resilient recovery of the poorest communities of Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, displaced by the 28th September 2018 earthquake and tsunami. During this disaster 184 000 pupils were affected by the damage or collapse of 12 000 schools in Palu and 164 000 people were displaced from their homes. These communities are highly vulnerable and marginalised from decisions made concerning their recovery and it is this marginalisation that this project seeks to address. An interdisciplinary team of academics and NGO practitioners from the UK and Indonesia will co-develop an innovative intervention that targets psycho-social disaster support, hygiene and the safety of the physical environment, and which centres on schools as hubs for fostering community empowerment. Schools play a major part in shaping future generations and thus a community's future. Safer school can save the lives of children in future disasters; they can serve as a temporary shelters; and help to bring normalcy back to society in times of disaster, thus increasing community resilience. This multi-pronged intervention will recreate not just the former status quo for these displaced communities but a more resilient future in which their needs and aspirations are put centre stage, and in which their wellbeing is fostered. The intervention will be created via three work packages: one targeting the psycho-social aspect, one for the water and sanitation hygiene aspect and one for structural infrastructure. The intervention involves four sets of stakeholders: pupils, their caregivers, their teachers and the contractors who build schools. It takes place over three sites in the poorest, most devastated parts of Palu. In order to devise a survivor-centred intervention an assessment phase will take place first. The goal will be to assess the aspirations and needs of these survivors - psycho-social, hygiene services-related and infrastructural - in order to devise and implement an intervention that will foster their recovery and simultaneously empower them to make decisions around their future disaster resilience. Through this work we aim to establish a sound evidence-base for what works to improve the capacity of disaster-displaced people, and develop tools and education material to foster dialogue concerning disaster resilience and safer schools. The project builds the research capacity of two Indonesian Universities, and the collected evidence will enable them to further their mission of influencing the Indonesian Ministry of Education to implement an effective, compulsory disaster recovery and preparedness program in all Indonesian schools. No such program has been implemented yet, though our Indonesian team are at the forefront of devising this. The interdisciplinary evidence base that emerges from the proposed project will ensure that this disaster recovery and preparedness program, and others in different regions of the world that target similar contexts, are based on sound scientific evidence and knowledge of local contexts gleaned from survivors themselves. The research involves close collaboration with the Humanitarian sector, and so the proposed research will not only produce traditional academic output but also practice-based reports and guidelines, which will be developed with the aim of improving the efficiency of future disaster response and resilient recovery programs.

Objectives

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

Indonesia

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