NU-UN to cooperate in dealing with disaster

Jakarta, NU Online
The commitment of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) to deal with any disasters in Indonesia would always be taken into account. To meet the goal, the Indonesia's biggest Muslim organization would again cooperate with the United Nation Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

Formerly in 2007 the two parties helped flood victims in Jakarta. They would now focus more on increasing people's understanding on disaster risks.<>

Avianto Muhtadi of the Community Based Disaster Risk Management of Nahdlatul Ulama (CBDRMNU) said here on Wednesday (2/4) that the purposeful program would target religious leaders and preachers to disseminate their understanding about disaster.

According to Avianto, both the religious leaders and preachers could be regarded as "very effective movers of society through mosques and religious gatherings."

He was of view that people were still in need of the existence of the religious leaders and the preachers in bringing 'change' in society.

He added, the involvement of community in handling any disasters was really important for giving such shock healing for disaster-hit victims.

The program would reportedly involve some 540 people consisting of 90 religious leaders and preachers that would participate in Training of Trainer.

Avianto expected the program would also involve institutions like schools, universities, Islamic boarding schools (pesantren), NGOs, and so on in disseminating the information. (mkf)