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The firstworkshop and seminar of the CSPP South East Asia
Regional Consultation was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the
14th and 15th June 2005, in collaboration with the Yappika
(Civil Society Alliance for Democracy). The workshop and
seminar on 'CSOs, Evidence and Policy Influence' provided
a forum for representatives from policy research institutes
and non-governmental agencies to discuss the opportunities
and challenges for CSOs to use evidence to inform policy,
learn about the latest worldwide research and practice in
this area, share experiences about ongoing activities and
identify opportunities for collaborative work. See the Regional
Consultation index for more information on the consultation
process.
This two day event involved a morning seminar followed by
a workshop in the afternoon and following day. Representatives
from various government departments, NGOs, research organisations
and universities from Jakarta, Bogor, Semarang (Central Java),
Surabaya (East Java), and Lampung (South Sumatra) attended
the half-day seminar and the workshop was attended by approximately
20 participants from various Indonesian CSOs.
Presentations were made by ODI's Naved Chowdhury and Cokro
Leksmono on ODI, the Research and Policy Development Programme
(RAPID), the Civil Society Partnership Programme (CSPP) and
the RAPID Context, Evidence and Links (CEL) Framework. In
the morning seminar Ahmad Wahid, a member of the Indonesian
House of Representatives active in drafting of legislation,
provided an insight into how legislation is formulated in
Indonesia following the recent reforms and how CSOs are actively
participating in the process. In sharing the Indonesian experience,
a joint presentation was made by two members of the Coalition
of Participatory Policy, or Koalisi Kebijakan Partisipatif
(KKP): Rival G. Ahmad (PSHK) and Sugiarto A. Santoso (Yappika).
The case study explained the experience of KKP in advocating
for public participation in policymaking.
During the workshop's open discussion session some participants
shared their own experiences in advocacy and research. Several
key points from the discussion were:
- In the Indonesian context, one of the challenges faced
by CSOs in policy advocacy efforts is the complexity of
the process itself.
- It is possible that the issue is not necessarily research
per se, but rather the political processes that involve
many stakeholders and much interest, including external
pressure.
- Undertaking impartial research and advocacy is important.
When building links with the government, one needs to be
aware of the compromises to be made.
From the group discussions, the main points were:
- Political will of the parties is essential to involve
different viewpoints in policymaking;
- Government departments also need capacity building support
to enable the bureaucrats to understand the benefits of
evidence based policymaking;
- There needs to be a shared perception within government
on the necessity of CSOs as partners in development;
- Advocacy will succeed if evidence is obtained in collaboration
with and sometimes in agreement with policymakers and bureaucrats;
- Strong links between stakeholders are important;
- Appropriate strategies are needed when influencing policymakers
and these may include informal and personal connections
between CSOs and policymakers;
- It is important to support representatives who are trusted
by the people in gathering evidence;
- Both horizontal (within the district) and vertical (with
government at the provincial level) links between key players
is crucial to facilitate efforts to influence policy;
- Research needs to be packaged in a way which is user friendly
and easily understood by the policymakers. The product has
to be given to the right person at the right time in the
right way;
- Research, both qualitative and quantitative, is sometimes
insufficient to convince policymakers. Therefore efforts
to bring in policymakers at the beginning of research are
necessary so that they are aware of and in agreement with
the methodology. This will help to mitigate the question
of legitimacy of CSOs often raised by the government officials.
At the end of the workshop, participants were asked to provide
recommendations as to how ODI can support CSOs in influencing
policy. Suggestions included:
- Funding for research and advocacy activities as well as
for field testing of policy tools;
- Provide strategic and financial support to establish an
institution which can promote shared learning from various
issues in policy advocacy in Indonesia;
- Collaboration with Indonesian CSOs for further study of
methodology for successful policy advocacy;
- Capacity building of various stakeholders through training
on policy formulation (government, CSOs, community, policymakers);
- Training and internships in Jakarta or to ODI for selected
CSO staff;
- Workshops for CSOs in other Indonesian cities;
- Organise a similar workshop for government staff;
- Involve academia in Indonesia in sharing research results;
- Undertake pilot projects in Indonesia which will analyse
ways to bridge research and policy.
Click on the links below if you would like further information.
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