News Desk Analysis

Indonesia's Humanitarian Landscape: Data You Need to Know

Lanskap Kemanusiaan Indonesia: Data yang Perlu Anda Ketahui

Relawan menuju lokasi banjir di Gorontalo menggunakan perahu
Volunteers heading to a flood site in Gorontalo, 2024. Photo: Sandy Syafrudin Nina (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0).

Disasters keep coming to Indonesia. Flash floods struck West Sumatra and North Sulawesi throughout 2026. Armed conflict in West Papua has forced more than 105,878 people to flee as of early 2026. Nduga Regency bears the heaviest burden, with 58,981 displaced people; Intan Jaya follows with 12,859. These figures come from Human Rights Monitor, as cited in the report The Indigenous World 2026.

Behind these numbers are people who have gone without food, medicine, and clean water for a long time.

Indonesia has the assets to respond to this crisis. The World Giving Report 2026 records Indonesia remaining above the global average in the generosity index. Religious values, gotong royong, and the habit of helping one another are the main pillars - not economic prosperity alone. Young donors give an average of 1.2 percent of their income - twice as much as donors over 55, who give 0.6 percent on average. The younger generation is taking a larger role in Indonesian generosity.

Social capital alone is not enough. The same report notes that giving only has impact when the recipient institutions have strong governance and real transparency. Indonesia's humanitarian sector has experienced cases of operating permits being revoked over alleged misuse of donor funds. This still shapes public trust in philanthropic and humanitarian institutions today.

You see three things running in parallel: high humanitarian need, large social capital, and governance demands that remain largely unanswered. IHSC, the Indonesian Humanitarian Study Center, stands at the intersection of these three.

IHSC is a humanitarian study center under IIK Nahdlatul Ulama Tuban. Our focus is not on adding to the number of humanitarian institutions. Our focus is on filling the gap that has received too little attention: evidence-based research, studies on humanitarian ethics and law, and policy recommendations that can be directly implemented. All of these studies depart from Islamic values and Nusantara identity, in line with Indonesia's conditions.

IHSC works in five fields: health in conflict and displacement, humanitarian ethics and law, disaster risk and response, humanitarian operations management, and climate change. Every study is designed to reach volunteers, health workers, academics, and policymakers.

The spirit of giving alone does not build a strong humanitarian system. You need reliable knowledge as the basis for action. That is the reason IHSC exists.

If you are a researcher, a humanitarian organization practitioner, an academic, or a policymaker who wants to advance and elevate Indonesia's humanitarian world, let us collaborate.

Sources

  1. The Indigenous World 2026: Indonesia, IWGIA. https://www.iwgia.org/en/articles/iw-2026-indonesia
  2. World Giving Report 2026, as cited in Info Filantropi Indonesia. https://infofilantropi.com/world-giving-report-2026-donasi-global-turun-indonesia-tetap-bertahan-di-atas-rata-rata-dunia/
  3. World Generosity Index Report 2026, CEA Indonesia. https://ceaindonesia.id/laporan-indeks-kedermawanan-dunia-2026/
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