Context
Over the last two decades, Indonesia has emerged as a regional leader whose democracy, prosperity, and continued stability are critical to the Indo-Pacific region. Although progress continues, government institutions have faced challenges in controlling endemic corruption, improving management of public services, protecting civil rights, and addressing the drivers of intolerance and radicalization.
Inclusive democratic governance, rule of law, and respect for constitutional rights are foundational to economic, social, and political stability. The U.S. Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), partners with the Government of Indonesia (GOI) and civil society organizations to reduce poverty, strengthen accountable and responsive democratic governance, and fortify resilience against intolerant and extremist influences. Overall, USAID supports Indonesia’s efforts to advance an inclusive, just, and accountable democracy that protects all citizens’ rights, roots out corruption, engages with civil society, promotes access to information and media, and strengthens a culture of diversity and pluralism.
USAID’s support has resulted in a number of important achievements, including:
USAID has trained more than 4,500 indigenous Papuan officials and community members from six provinces in Papua on how to effectively plan and budget their local special autonomy funds.
To spur improvements to local public services and enhance good governance, USAID facilitated 782 multi-stakeholder forum meetings with 15,530 participants in 2023 that resulted in the adoption of 49 policy recommendations by local governments.
Also in 2023, USAID brought together 83 anti-corruption activists, academics, and practitioners to formulate recommendations on key anti-corruption issues and submit them for consideration for the 2023-2024 National Strategy on Corruption Prevention.
Since 2019, USAID has built the capacity of Indonesian civil society organizations (CSOs) to mobilize local resources, resulting in CSOs securing 115 agreements with local governments, private companies, and philanthropic institutions valued at more than $1.2 million to advance local priorities.
CURRENT PROGRAMS
STRENGTHENING A CULTURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
Every year, corruption diverts millions of dollars away from public spending and into the pockets of private individuals, depriving public services and accelerating environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Our corruption prevention activity, USAID Indonesia Integrity Initiative (Integritas), focuses on identifying, preventing, and managing conflicts of interest in licensing and procurement related to natural resources. By sharing information on transparency in corporate reporting, political party finance, and conflicts of interest in procurement, we advance policies and practices that increase transparency and accountability. To date, USAID Integritas has trained more than 2,000 students and CSO staff on corruption prevention through the Anti-Corruption Academy, enhancing public and private sector engagement.
PROMOTING PROTECTION OF CITIZEN RIGHTS
Indonesia continues to face challenges in ensuring the protection of constitutional rights and equal access to justice for its citizens. USAID supports the work of relevant GOI agencies and reputable CSOs – including legal aid organizations, media associations, and university partners – to improve access to government services and improve citizens’ ability to advocate for their rights. In particular, the voices of religious and ethnic minorities, indigenous populations, women, children, the poor, marginalized individuals, and groups vulnerable to discrimination and violence need to be heard.
Indonesia and the United States share a commitment to protect the fundamental rights and liberties of individuals of all faiths. Through USAID Religious Freedom in Indonesia (Toleransi), we promote an open, tolerant, and democratic society in Indonesia where individuals and groups of all faiths can exercise their rights without fear of discrimination or persecution. To advance this goal, USAID is improving the effectiveness and sustainability of sub-national legal aid organizations, enabling them to better defend civil rights – including religious freedom – in their communities.
STRENGTHENING LOCAL GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS
Disparities in the capacity of local governments is a challenge for Indonesia to consistently and fairly improve outcomes in sectors like health and education. USAID Efficient, Effective and Strong Governance (ERAT) supports national, provincial, and local governments to strengthen the coherence and implementation of their policies, improve budget planning and execution for better public service delivery, increase accountability, and enable incentives for transparent and effective service delivery. To date, our assistance has improved the quality of budget allocation in 12 districts and supported the issuance of 98 national and subnational policies to strengthen the delivery of public services.
Through USAID Kolaborasi, we support improved functioning and accountability of local governments in Papua through technical assistance for Indonesia’s Papuan provinces to better use their Special Autonomy funds (Otsus). We are also improving the capacity of local governments to engage indigenous Papuans in governance processes and leverage local resources to benefit local residents. To date, USAID Kolaborasi has trained more than 250 government planners from 20 local governments in Papua about the three primary special autonomy sectors of health, education, and economy. We also empowered more than 950 indigenous Papuans to participate in local development processes, giving them a platform to voice their aspirations and influence the policy-making process.
STRENGTHENING INDEPENDENT MEDIA AND COUNTERING ONLINE MISINFORMATION
Independent media serves the public by defending citizens’ rights, increasing transparency, raising awareness, and improving accountability. USAID Media Empowerment for Democratic Integrity and Accountability (MEDIA) strengthens public interest media and CSOs to promote government accountability, hold business interests to account, and counter mis/dis/mal-information. We are strengthening the ability of media and CSOs to improve citizen engagement with high-quality, evidence-based coverage about issues of substantial public interest. To date, USAID MEDIA has trained approximately 1,500 journalists on subjects like data and citizen journalism, resulting in the publication of more than 900 pieces of content.
USAID also partners with Meta to equip young Indonesians with the necessary digital literacy, critical thinking, and creative skills to become competent and informed citizens in a digital era. Through our partnership, the Saring Daring University Challenge engages students from ten Indonesian universities and six CSOs to promote digital literacy, critical thinking, and positive online communications. The students create digital content – including social media – that contributes to a community of responsible, competent, and informed digital citizens across Indonesia. In its first year, Saring Daring worked with more than 175 students who have created 66 videos for social media on topics like positive online communication, online identity and security, and critical thinking.
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