Countries

Indonesia

In Indonesia, we fostered powerful coalitions to support the national fisherfolk union and a grassroots organization representing the urban poor to demand accountable delivery of services. Together we have improved access to fuel subsidies for fisherfolk and cash assistance for urban poor households respectively.

Open Budget Survey Results

Public Participation

24

Budget Oversight

61

Transparency

70

Initiatives in Indonesia

1.7m

fisherfolk received direct cash assistance.

4,424

urban poor households gained access to social protection assistance.

Members of the fisherfolk group KNTI at a rally where government members and fisherfolk came together to discuss budget credibility issues facing fisherfolk.
SPARK initiative

Indonesia’s fisherfolk

Summary

The International Budget Partnership forged a powerful coalition of budget reform allies to support the National Union of Traditional Fisherfolk in ensuring that the Indonesian government delivers on promises to support its fisherfolk. Our coalition identified three barriers to fisherfolk accessing the government’s fuel subsidy: 1) the complexity of the subsidy registration process; and 2) government deviating subsidy allocations meant for fisherfolk to other sectors; 3) lack of availability fuel stations.

Impacts to date:

  • Honed the budget advocacy skills of a nationwide union representing 300,000 small-scale fisherfolk.
  • Secured $95 million USD in COVID relief for 1.1 million fishers and $4.2 USD million in credit facilities.
  • Conducted budget analysis revealing 74% of the fuel subsidy allocation for fisherfolk was diverted to other sectors.
  • Secured 34,375 fuel subsidy vouchers for fisherfolk in Central Java from 2020-2022.
  • Persuaded officials to simplify the registration process for the fuel subsidyfacilitating access for 2.6 million fisherfolk.
  • Secured a Memorandum of Understanding with national and regional Ombudsperson offices to have a say in how services are provided to fisherfolk.
Read More Read Less
_ND_1572

Strengthening Public Accountability

Our Strengthening Public Accountability for Results and Knowledge (SPARK) program flips traditional public finance management work on its head by putting underserved communities at the center of budget advocacy.

There are things we overlooked. These events allow fisherfolk to express their concerns and be heard

Nilawati, a member of KNTI, shows the realities faced by fisherfolk to a government official visiting Medan from Jakarta.
82%
The percentage of fisherfolk who said they could not access subsidized fuel in a social audit conducted in Medan, Indonesia.
SPARK initiative

Indonesia’s urban poor

Summary

We forged a powerful coalition of budget reform allies to support the Indonesian People’s Struggle Association in expanding access to the social protection program known as the Family Hope Program. Our coalition identified two barriers to urban poor families accessing the social protection program: 1) the government’s limited budget allocation for the program and; 2) a cumbersome registration process.

Impacts to date:

  • Honed the budget advocacy skills of a grassroots organization representing primarily urban poor women. 
  • Ensured that 3,140 households are successfully registered in the government’s integrated data system for social protection.
  • Secured regular social protection assistance for 4,424 urban poor households.
Read More Read Less

The role of the Indonesian People’s Struggle Association and the civil society coalition is essential to accelerate poverty reduction.

SPRI partner Inisiatif (National Center for Indonesian Leadership) conducting social audits as part of their COVID response initative
35
The number of community information centers we set up with partners to collect data on social assistance delivery during the COVID pandemic.

Budget Credibility Initiative

Summary

Budget credibility refers to the extent to which a government’s actual spending deviates from its approved budget. In Indonesia, we found that although the government on aggregate has low rates of underspending, at the sectoral level they do underspend on key sectors.

Impacts to date:

  • Flagged information gaps that led the Ministry of Finance to improve its website to provide greater transparency around the COVID relief budget.
  • Conducted research assessing spending patterns in the federal budget on sectors relevant to the Sustainable Development Goals. We found the highest rates of underspending on agriculture and food (by 10 percent), clean water and sanitation (by 7 percent), and gender programs (by 5 percent).
  • Conducted assessments that revealed that while the government spends 99% of its fuel subsidy budget, the fisheries sector only gets about a quarter of its allocation. The rest is diverted to other sectors due to red tape complicating fisherfolks’ access to the subsidy.
Read More Read Less
Featured Network Members

Indonesian Traditional Fishers Association (KNTI)

Partnership Initiative
+62213152246

Perkumpulan INISIATIF

Partnership Initiative
+62 22 7309987 | +62 81 572798666 | +62 22-733-1105

Institute for Development and Economic Analysis (IDEA)

Partnership Initiative
+62 274 583 900

Bandung Institute of Governance Studies (BIGS)

OBI Researcher
+62 22 251 4433 | +62 22 7078 7931 | +62 22 250 1954
Related Stories
Featured resources
Screen Shot 2023-02-06 at 12.27.05

Strengthening Budget Credibility for Service Delivery

Feb 06, 2023
large-226A6321
Learning

Learning Briefs: Building the capabilities of grassroots groups to collectively engage with fiscal governance systems

Feb 05, 2023
Budget-credibility-photo-scaled

Accelerating SPARK during COVID-19

Feb 05, 2023
spark indonesia
Learning

Stories of Change: How grassroots communities are securing vital services

Feb 05, 2023
Related Resources
Paper

Exploring the Connections between Budget Credibility and SDG Implementation

This synthesis outlines the findings of 13 research briefs exploring budget credibility challenges within specific SDG-related sectors.
Case Study

Examining Budget Credibility in Indonesia’s Water and Sanitation Sector

This brief analyzes the credibility of Indonesia’s water and sanitation budget, showing that, despite some progress, chronic budget underspending has negatively affected progress toward SDG 6.
Budget Trailblazer

Budget Trailblazers: Wulandari

Each month, we shine a spotlight on partners who are using budget advocacy to bring transformational change to their communities. This month, we’re highlighting Wulandari, Member of The Council, Perkumpulan INISIATIF (Building Better Public Budget Leadership and Politics) What inspired you to get involved in INISIATIF and budget advocacy work? When I was 20 years […]

Strengthening Budget Credibility for Service Delivery

The International Budget Partnership (IBP) collaborates with civil society around the world to use budget analysis and advocacy as a tool to improve effective governance and reduce poverty. One of IBP’s emerging focus areas is budget credibility, or whether governments collect and spend funds according to their approved budget. At its core, budget credibility is […]
Learning

Learning Briefs: Building the capabilities of grassroots groups to collectively engage with fiscal governance systems

In 2018, we piloted a new approach in seven countries to equip grassroots communities with the skills to gain influence over budgets. This effort focused on Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa. In five years, we have proven that a bottom-up model works. We can tangibly improve the lives of underserved communities […]
Learning

Stories of Change: How grassroots communities are securing vital services

In 2018, we piloted a new approach in seven countries to equip grassroots communities with the skills to gain influence over budgets. This effort, Strengthening Public Accountability for Results and Knowledge (SPARK), focused on Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa. In five years, we have proven that a bottom-up model works. We […]
Case Study, Learning

Indonesia: Transforming Grassroots Movements in Seizing Space for Public Accountability

SPARK Indonesia’s experience in strengthening the capacity of urban poor and traditional fisherfolk in advocating for social protection and subsidized fuel.
Case Study, Paper

Connecting Budget Credibility to the Sustainable Development Goals

To explore the connections between budget credibility patterns and efforts to achieve the SDGs, IBP coordinated investigations into budget credibility patterns in government budgets by partners and IBP staff members in 13 countries from 2018 to 2020. This paper synthesizes the findings across the 13 country case studies, highlighting cross-cutting themes and trends that emerge from the data and analysis.
Latest Insights
Photo by Perkumpulan Inisiatif.
Budget Trailblazer

Budget Trailblazers: Wulandari

Jul 27, 2023
Indonesia-street-scaled
Blogs

Using the Open Budget Survey results to promote change: A conversation with the government reviewer for Indonesia

Aug 13, 2020
Indo
Blogs

Indonesian partner helps urban poor navigate red tape and get promised COVID benefits

Jun 04, 2020
Pam Bailey
Latest Event
debt-dejavu-event-featured

An End to Debt Déjà Vu

October 10, 2023
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Marrakech time (WEST)