The SurfAid Emergency Preparedness (E-Prep) program is a three-year, community-based, disaster risk management program funded by the Australian Government through AusAID’s Australia-Indonesia Partnership.

The program is designed to improve both village and district disaster management systems so that communities in isolated regions are better prepared for natural disasters. Being better prepared means saving lives. Communities need to plan and prepare before disasters. They need to know how to respond if affected by a disaster. And they need to identify their key strengths in order to quickly recover from the affects of natural disaster.

In the Mentawai Islands and Nias Island, communities have predominantly identified earthquakes and tsunamis as the main risks they face. However, this program looks at all hazards, and the communities themselves identify the natural disasters that threaten them based on their own experience. Such disasters could include:

• Floods
• Landslides
• Tidal surges
• Tropical storms and cyclones
• Forest fires
• Health epidemics

E-Prep is known as Program Siaga Bencana in the 55 target coastal villages (33 villages in Nias and 22 villages in the Mentawai Islands). The program began in October 2006 with an initial six-month design phase which included baseline data collection, surveys, socialization with key stakeholders and government representatives, and visits to target villages. Baseline data was gathered using a range of tools such as Knowledge, Attitude & Practice (KAP) surveys, Coastal Community Resilience (CCR) assessments and village vulnerability/capacity and profile assessments.

E-Prep is designed around three key components:

1. Community Awareness Raising
2. Community Disaster Contingency Planning and Capacity Building
3. Disaster Mitigation.