Hurricane Sandy has ravaged the eastern coast of the United States, killing and causing widespread damage, but perhaps the most tragic experience in matters of natural disasters has been that of Indonesia.

In 2004 Indonesia lost over 200,000 people when the tsunami hit Aceh. A few months later, Nias was devastated by an earthquake. A little more than a year later, over 6,000 people in Java lost their lives in earthquakes and tsunamis. In 2010, Mount Merapi erupted, destroying houses and habitats barely recovering from the last disaster.

Nevertheless, Indonesia’s reaction is impressive: these deadly natural disasters have reshaped Indonesia’s approach to disaster response and preparedness, and made communities more resilient. Months after the tsunami struck, the Government of Indonesia established the Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias (MDF) to coordinate donor support for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Aceh and Nias. Donors pooled $655 million in grant funds with the World Bank serving as Trustee.

The MDF portfolio followed a phased approach designed to meet the changing needs of disaster survivors throughout the recovery process: first rebuilding houses and communities, then focusing on infrastructure, and finally laying the foundations for economic growth. The program was led by government, but communities had major input in the process. Environmental sustainability, gender, capacity building and disaster risk reduction were important cross-cutting elements of the MDF program throughout its life cycle.

The MDF also established a replicable model for disaster response which was quickly put to the test in Java in 2006. The Java Reconstruction Fund (JRF) was set up along the same lines as the MDF. As in Aceh, the JRF was a government-led partnership with multiple donors. It also followed a phased approach with strong community input. And it was also a success. Houses and communities were restored. Livelihoods were re-established with provision of skills training and access to finance. The JRF even restored lost assets to viable firms so that they could re-establish themselves.

By the time Mount Merapi erupted in 2010, the JRF was well-positioned to take on the job of recovery. The program was expanded to include the victims of the volcano. Having the JRF framework in place meant that the recovery was quick and efficient.

Indonesia’s experience holds promise for any country at risk of natural disasters. On November 12, it will hold the ‘MDF & JRF International Closing Conference’, a  major international conference to share the knowledge and experience learned during the years. The lessons, of a costly and painful recovery from horrifying disasters, will ensure that a legacy of resilience and preparedness will endure into the future.

“Halfway through this year we are seeing people in desperate need in twenty countries, whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict, hunger and disaster,” said the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos.

“As well as providing effective emergency aid, humanitarian organizations are also working to improve the resilience of communities so that they can better cope with the impact of future natural disasters and conflicts,” she added.

In a news release, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which Amos heads, noted that the number of people needing assistance had risen from 51 million to 62 million – an increase of more than 20 per cent – during the first half of this year.

A large number of these people are in the African continent, with more than 18 million people facing a severe food and nutrition crisis in countries of the Sahel region, which includes Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and parts of Sudan, Cameroon and Nigeria.

Conflict has worsened the situation in Mali, as well as in South Sudan, which is coping with increasing numbers of refugees from Sudan who have fled conflict in border areas.

Food insecurity, malnutrition and insecurity have also worsened the situation in Yemen, where 60 per cent of children under five are chronically malnourished – a rate second only to Afghanistan, where so far this year, more than 200,000 people have been affected by some 300 natural disasters. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people are being affected by the intensifying armed conflict in Syria, which has caused many to flee to neighbouring countries.

To respond strategically to major crises and monitor the effectiveness of their work, OCHA said that some 560 humanitarian aid organizations are using the Consolidated Appeal Process, a tool used by aid organisations to plan, implement and monitor their activities together. Collaborating in the world’s crisis regions, they produce appeals, which they present to the international community and donors.

As of today, the agency reported, humanitarian partners have raised their funding requirements, from $7.8 billion, at the beginning of the year, to $8.8 billion. However, while 45 per cent of the funding required has been received, a gap of $4.8 billion for what is left of the year remains.

“We have reached at least 21 million people so far with humanitarian aid, but our partners need further resources to reach everyone in need,” said Amos. “I commend humanitarian donors for maintaining their generosity and commitment to effective, coordinated and timely aid.”