Representatives of UNFPA, BNPB and BPS speak at a national seminar titled “Optimizing Population and Secondary Data for Disaster Management”, June 2012

Jakarta, 5 February 2013— A data-sharing agreement signed today by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) paves the way for further inter-agency collaboration, and offers the promise of population data that will inform Indonesia’s preparation and response to humanitarian situations, said UNFPA Representative Jose Ferraris.

"This agreement has the potential to improve the safety and resilience of the Indonesian people and strengthen the capacity of its national institutions," Ferraris said.

Accurate, readily available data have become a cornerstone of effective humanitarian operations, ranging in application from disaster preparedness and conflict prevention to emergency relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction processes. In addition to population data, the agreement covers the provision and use of socioeconomic, cultural, environmental, and historical disaster information.

The agreement marks a milestone in agencies’ collaboration on data for disaster management. UNFPA facilitated the first round of collaboration last year. It resulted in a preliminary analysis by BNPB that mapped provincial-level population data, supplied by BPS, onto disaster risk assessments by BNPB. The findings, presented at a national seminar in June 2012 cosponsored by UNFPA, BNPB, and BPS, revealed that over 97% of the Indonesian population lives in an area with "very high risk" of natural disaster.

Indonesia, which sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire" at the intersection of the Pacific, Indo-Australian, and Eurasiantectonic plates, is particularly prone to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.

"UNFPA is proud to facilitate BPS, BNPB, and others in collaborations that put population data on the map in disaster management, quite literally," added Ferraris.

Collaboration with BPS on data for humanitarian situations was pioneered through UNFPA’s support of BPS in conducting and analyzing a census of Aceh and Nias just one year after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the area.

The census, known as SPAN (Sensus Penduduk Aceh Nias), marked the first time that BPS lent its services in support of a national emergency response; the data and analysis produced have been widely recognized as an exemplary success story.

Mr. Ferraris added that further collaboration will hopefully lead to the development of national guidelines on data for disaster management programmes, the development of a robust Baseline Data Information System, as well as other initiatives between BNPB and BPS.

Tags: Humanitarian, Population