Background to the Open Government Partnership in Indonesia: The CSO Core Team

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As one of the eight founding members of the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) in 2011, Indonesia was appointed to the chairmanship in 2014.This was just one step, though, in the evolution of OGP in Indonesia.

The first step in the development of OGP in Indonesia was the government’s establishment of Open Government Indonesia (OGI). The government established OGI as a platform for communication between interested parties. Initially, OGI had a core team consisting of five government agencies, namely, the President’s Delivery Unit for Development Monitoring and Oversight (UKP-PPP), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Communication and Information, National Planning Agency, and Central Information Commission. The government subsequently appointed four civil society organisations (CSO) to join the OGI Core Team. However, as there were no mechanisms for the appointment of these CSOs, there were concerns about transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More of these selections. The appointed CSOs, therefore, asked for explanations regarding the reasons behind their respective appointments. The government responded by announcing that the credibility of each organisation as a representative of their distinct and different backgrounds was behind their appointments and that this credibility would serve to start building trust between government and CSOs.

In 2013, the Indonesia government decided to add another two government agencies to the core team, the Ministry of Administrative Reform and Ministry of Home Affairs. As a result of this extension, civil society core team members requested a further extension of the team, in order to provide equal representative for government and civil society. An open recruitment process was conducted and three organisations with different backgrounds were chosen, based on criteria set during discussions between government and the CSO Core Team.

Despite the increased prominence of the CSOs within Open Government, the CSOs’ internal mechanisms had yet to reach the maximum capacity. Of particular concern for the CSOs, at this time, was a lack of resources and dedicated personnel from each organisation (focal point). In response to these limitations, the CSO Core Team conducted a process of self-restructuring, following the OGP London Summit in 2013. As a result, each organisation appointed a focal point to sit in the OGI Core Team, with the core team appointing an internal coordinator and establishing a secretariat. In addition to that, the seven CSOs were also divided into specific roles, with specific functions. The division of tasks was based on their focus areas (anti-corruption, environmental matters, public service, budget transparency, and legislative openness) and the different scale of their operations (international, national, and sub-nationalRecognizing that much of what impacts people’s daily lives occurs at the local level, many OGP countries are working to open up lower levels of government by creating commitments focused on subnatio... level).

This increasing awareness of structural limitations occurred not only within the structure of the core team, but also within the government and CSOs themselves. A lack of internal resources made them realise that public campaigning and involvement must be broadened, leading to significant public outreach being conducted. The engagement of a broader set of actors, including the coalition of Freedom of Information Network Indonesia, was one of the most significant approachs undertaken by the CSO Core Team. A group of CSOs also conducted an independent monitoring report to evaluate the national action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... in 2013. The report gave a different perspective about the national action plan and its overall meaning. All the actors involved in 2014 have showed a greater interest when compared to initial interest in 2011 when the government first introduced OGP.

During the Indonesian chairmanship, the CSO Core Team decided to take a more proactive approach to allow for better engagement and collaboration in the decision making processes for OGP initiatives. The trust which has flourished in the past two and a half years has resulted in better collaboration, whilst there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Partnership in Open Government focuses strongly on collaborative efforts, such as the efforts which have been undertaken by the seven members of the CSO Core Team. Three important forms of collaboration that has taken place between CSOs and the government have included, capacity buildingEnhancing the skills, abilities, and processes of public servants, civil society, and citizens is essential to achieving long-lasting results in opening government. Technical specifications: Set of ac... (i.e. provide technical assistance and training), system/infrastructure installment, and advocacy (i.e. drafting regulationGovernment reformers are developing regulations that enshrine values of transparency, participation, and accountability in government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or reforming ... with inputs from society, ensuring compliance of public agency, holding a social accountabilityTransparency of public service delivery is not enough on its own; giving citizens opportunities to monitor progress on the ground and hold their governments accountable improves the quality of these s... forum, and conducting public campaign and outreach).

Collaborative Action

by CSO Core Team Open Government Partnership in Indonesia (OGI)

CSO Core Team OGI

Promoting transparency and accountability for more participative governance through partnership in Open Government Indonesia 

PATTIRO (Centre for Regional and Information Studies)

Collaborative efforts for more transparent and accountable public service deliveryTo ensure that citizens of all groups are better supported by the government, OGP participating governments are working to improve the quality of and access to public services. Commitments in this are...

For further information, please check our website: http://pattiro.org/?lang=en

TI (Transparency International) Indonesia

Collaborative efforts for essential services with integrity

For further information, please check our website: http://www.ti.or.id/en/

ICEL (Indonesian Center for Environmental Law)

Collaborative efforts in access to information, participation, environmental justiceTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... & natural resources management

For further information, please check our website: http://www.icel.or.id/

SekNas FITRA (National Secretariat for Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency)

Collaborative efforts in pursuing budget transparency in three pillars: executive, legislative, and communities

For further information, please check our website:http://seknasfitra.org/?lang=en

KOPEL Makassar (Makassar Legislative Monitoring Committee)

Collaborative efforts with local parliament to strengthen the oversight function of Sub-National Parliament

For further information, please check our website: http://kopel-online.or.id/

GerAk Aceh (Aceh Anti-Corruption Movement)

Collaborative efforts with sub-national government for an accountable government with integrity

For further information, please check our website : http://www.gerakaceh.org/

JARI KalTeng (Central Kalimantan Civil Society Independent Network for Transparency and Accountabillity in Development)

Collaborative efforts for more responsive sub-national governance

For further information, please check our website: http://jarikalteng.or.id/

Sectoral Focal Points

Anti-Corruption : TI Indonesia and GerAk Aceh

Budget Transparency : SekNas FITRA

Environment : ICEL and JARI KalTeng

Public Service : PATTIRO

Legislative (sub-national) : KOPEL Makassar

Focal Points from the Post-OGP London Summit – OGP Bali Conference(6-7 May 2014)

1. TI Indonesia : Ilham Saenong, Program Director
2. ICEL: Margaretha Quina*, Researcher and Astrid Debora, Researcher
3. PATTIRO: Didik Purwandanu*, Senior Programme Manager, Danardono Sirajudin, Senior Development Manager, Nanda Sihombing, OGP Specialist
4. SekNas FITRA: Muhammad Maulana*, Researcher and Lukman Hakim, Researcher
5. KOPEL Makassar: Akil Rahman, Coordinator for Research and Development Division
6. GerAk Aceh: Mulyadi, Vice Coordinator
7. JARI KalTeng: Mariaty A.Niun, Executive Director
8. Secretariat CSO Core Team OGI: Nanda Sihombing, OGP Specialist, Ari Setiawan, FOI Specialist

*) *Agency has since handed over the position of focal point to someone else in their team

This article originally appeared on a different website on 4th July and can be viewed here.