New CWS Program Builds Flood Resilience Through Community Engagement

CWS Japan, alongside local partners, has launched the I-CREATE program in Indonesia’s Malaka District to help communities along the Benanain River strengthen their resilience against recurring floods. By improving early warning systems, enhancing flood mitigation infrastructure and fostering inclusive, community-led solutions, the program aims to ensure long-term sustainability and disaster preparedness.

For communities along the Benanain River in Indonesia, annual flooding is a persistent challenge, threatening access to clean water and disrupting agricultural livelihoods. To help local residents adapt and build long-term resilience, CWS Japan, in collaboration with YCWS and Perkumpulan Masyarakat Penanganan Bencana (PMPB-NTT), has launched the Improving Community Resilience through Enhanced Adaptation and Technical Assistance (I-CREATE) program in Malaka District, East Nusa Tenggara.

A Multi-Level Approach to Community Resilience  

At recent community launch events, discussions with local leaders and residents revealed several pressing challenges, including recurring flooding that contaminates water sources, gaps in early warning systems for community members and localized vulnerabilities with high-risk areas along the river.

Many communities depend on the Benanain River for daily needs, but frequent floods contaminate water sources and threaten food security. However, the region’s fertile soil presents an opportunity—when properly managed, it supports thriving agriculture. Despite this, the lack of river water level monitoring means residents often respond only when floodwaters are already rising. Enhancing early warning mechanisms is critical, and certain high-risk areas along the riverbank require targeted interventions to prevent overflow, necessitating both technical solutions and community-driven initiatives.

Community-Led Adaptation and Inclusive Solutions

Despite these challenges, local communities have shown resilience by adjusting their planting seasons to align with changing weather patterns, and the region’s river basin forum, though currently inactive, presents an opportunity to foster collaboration between upstream and downstream villages.

A key priority of I-CREATE is inclusivity—ensuring that disaster preparedness and response strategies consider the needs of all community members, including people with disabilities. By involving diverse voices in planning and training, the program seeks to create sustainable, community-driven solutions that support all community members.

Over the next several years, the program will continue to assess potential risks from dam management, support community participation in improving flood mitigation infrastructure, engage early warning systems and information dissemination, digitally map hazards, risks and evacuation routes and provide technical recommendations for river basin management. 

By integrating technical expertise, community knowledge and government collaboration, I-CREATE aims to build long-lasting resilience against flooding, ensuring a safer and more sustainable future for Malaka District.

To learn more about CWS’ work in Asia, click here.