The establishment of the HFI was influenced by both national and international contexts.
The emergence of the HFI was influenced by the heightened awareness following the 2004 Aceh tsunami and the 2006 Yogyakarta tectonic earthquake, which subsequently led to the enactment of Law No. 24 of 2007 concerning Disaster Management and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005. This created a need for a dialogue space among stakeholders, particularly civil society. Seven NGOs established the HFI, namely Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Centre (MDMC), Yayasan Tanggul Bencana Indonesia (YTBI), YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU), Dompet Dhuafa, KARINA, Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI), and the Association for Community Empowerment or (PPKM).
In the international context, in 2004, following the WTC 9/11 incident, several Eastern humanitarian agencies, in partnership with Western counterparts, endeavored and succeeded in establishing a partnership forum known as The Humanitarian Forum. This forum was supported not only by international NGOs but also by UN agencies such as UNOCHA and IFRC. During a meeting of The Humanitarian Forum’s Steering Committee, the decision was made to establish Humanitarian Forum Indonesia.
With international support and strong willingness from national stakeholders, HFI was officially established on August 11, 2008. To date, HFI has 20 member institutions/organizations.
Initially established in 2008 as the “Forum Kemanusiaan Indonesia”, HFI underwent a legal basis change on May 4, 2017, under Notary Deed No. 1 of 2017 and Decree of the Minister of Law and Human Rights No. AHU 0007828.AH.01.07 of 2017, dated May 10, 2017, to become the “Perkumpulan Humanitarian Forum (HFI)” This change reflected the evolving role of HFI.
