ABSTRACT
Cikole Village is located in Lembang Sub District, West Bandung Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia. This village is prone to natural disasters for located on an active Lembang fault. Therefore, disaster preparedness information is required to be applied thoroughly and fast. It is observed that every Village has community of housewives that actively empower families. Therefore, there is an advantage in applying gender-based approach into the spreading of disaster preparedness information. This study aims to describe the innovation of gender-based disaster preparedness in Cikole Village. This study uses qualitative method by applying a comparative study on the disaster preparedness management performed by men and women. The data was taken by collecting and observing the opinion put forward by community groups in focus group discussions (FGD). The discussions are divided into three main topics, namely Disaster Preparedness Management in Cikole Village, Gender and Technology Based Disaster Preparedness, and Innovation of Cikole Village Disaster Preparedness Management. Data from the discussion is then analyzed by comparing the knowledge held by men and women in the society to the existing references. The results showed that the role of women in Cikole Village was very dominant in disaster affairs, especially from the aspects of knowledge and skills of utilizing information on applications published by the government. This condition shows an opportunity to empower village women to carry out disaster preparedness. Therefore, the implication of the findings is forming a women's community organization as a driving force in handling disaster preparedness.
