This case study is part of the Humanitarian Policy Group's research programme on the role of the affected state in humanitarian action. It aims to describe the essential elements of the Indonesian approach to disaster management, looking both historically and towards future directions, as well as analysing key themes and issues that Indonesia highlights which are of wider relevance to the research programme as a whole.

The case study focuses on but is not limited to Indonesia’s experience in responding to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which devastated coastal parts of Aceh, and the 2006 central Java/Yogyakarta earthquake.