PRIMA Indonesia

Indonesia

In Indonesia, we spearhead the PRIMA coalition bringing grassroots movements, civil society organizations and government reform champions together to improve how public money is raised and spent.

About PRIMA

What is PRIMA?

PRIMA (Penguatan Representasi Inklusif Perempuan dalam Anggaran/Public Resource Inclusion through Women Empowerment) is a movement of civil society organizations and community groups working together to enhance inclusion of coastal women, urban poor women, and women with disabilities in public policy and the budget process.

Who and where?

The movement brings together the Indonesia Coastal Women Union and the Urban Poor Women Community to advocate for clean water, sanitation, and waste management in coastal and urban poor areas, as well as the Indonesian Association of Women with Disabilities to improve access to reproductive health services for women with disabilities. We currently work across 14 cities and 12 provinces in Indonesia.

Further Background

PRIMA is the part of our Strengthening Public Accountability for Results and Knowledge program that flips traditional public finance management work on its head by putting underserved communities at the center of budget advocacy. In Indonesia, we also collaborate with several civil society organizations to strengthen evidence-based advocacy and drive more inclusive policy change. We also engage state accountability actors to play a more active role in overseeing the implementation of government policies and budgets to improve public service delivery.

Clean Water and Sanitation

The barriers women face

Access to clean water, sanitation, and waste management remains a significant challenge for coastal women and urban poor women. Limited infrastructure, densely populated settlements, the impacts of climate change, and the lack of women’s participation in decision-making processes hinders safe, adequate access to these basic services. This affects health outcomes and increases the burden on women to meet daily water and sanitation needs.

How women are driving change

Through PRIMA, women are becoming key actors in driving change. Together with the Urban Poor Women and the Indonesia Coastal Women’s Association we strengthen women’s skills by collecting evidence on WASH access in coastal and urban poor communities, building Community Action Plans that reflect the actual needs on the ground and then advocating for increased budget allocations with relevant stakeholders.

Where this is happening

Our advocacy to improve WASH access is being carried out across 9 locations: Medan, Karawang, Tangerang, Surabaya, Semarang, Makassar, Balikpapan, East Lombok, and West Jakarta.

Reproductive Health for Women with Disabilities

The barriers women face

Nearly all women with disabilities in Indonesia lack access to reproductive healthcare. This is due to persistent barriers such as limited physical access, insufficient inclusive information, and healthcare providers who don’t yet fully address the needs of people with diverse disabilities.

How women are driving change

Together with the Indonesian Women with Disabilities Association, women with disabilities are leading efforts to drive change. They collected data on facilities and services in 6 Community Health Centers (Puskesmas) across 7 regions: North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Riau, West Java, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, and South Sulawesi.

Turning findings into policy

These findings shaped Community Action Plans (CAPs) developed with Community Health Centers and were shared with the government to drive change. Through this work, PRIMA advocates for increased budget allocations for accessible and accommodating reproductive health services and ensures women with disabilities have a meaningful voice in in budget planning and decision-making.

Fuel Subsidies for Fisherfolk

The barriers fisherfolk face

We 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; 2) government deviating subsidy allocations meant for fisherfolk to other sectors; and 3) lack of available fuel stations.

What fisherfolk have won

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 subsidy—facilitating 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.

Social Protection for Urban Poor Families

The barriers families face

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.

What families have won

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.

Budget Credibility

What budget credibility means

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.

What our research changed

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 national 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 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.

Building a Fiscal Accountability Ecosystem

Why an ecosystem approach

Fiscal decisions should reflect the interaction and balance of power among diverse actors. In practice, though, many decisions are made that bypass formal channels. An ecosystem approach helps us understand how these stakeholders interact and how political dynamics shape the direction and quality of public financial decisions.

Our recommendations

Strengthen development accountability: Expand the Supreme Audit Institution’s mandate to cover performance audits; pilot joint audits with civil society organizations and update laws to formalize this and protect independence. Rebuild pro-reform CSO–Parliament alliances: Work with reform-minded legislators to influence budget allocations and shape more responsive budgets.
Institutionalize the role of CSOs and media: Push for regulations ensuring public hearings, audit follow-through, inclusive budget consultations and stronger procurement oversight.
Revitalize development partner support: Link technical assistance to governance indicators; leverage OECD accession processes and SDG commitments for reforms and back platforms such as the Open Government Initiative (OGI).
Build progressive political coalitions: Unite reform actors around concrete wins like the Free Nutritious Meals Program to build momentum for accountability.

Community-Based Procurement Monitoring

How communities monitor spending

Through community-based procurement monitoring and collaboration with local governments, we identify gaps in project implementation and ensure concrete follow-up on the ground. This approach goes beyond administrative compliance, focusing instead on the quality of outcomes and their benefits for communities. In the WASH sector in East Lombok, this work has contributed to improving the implementation of water infrastructure projects, including ensuring that contractors fulfill their contractual obligations and that infrastructure functions effectively for beneficiaries. To expand impact, this model will be replicated across sectors and regions to strengthen public procurement governance more broadly.

What communities have changed

Key Achievements:

Identified gaps in project delivery, specifically a shortfall of 50 household water connections, were addressed by the contractor following monitoring, bringing the project in line with contractual commitments.
A previously non-functional project is now operational, providing access to clean water for approximately 500 households.
Community-led monitoring prompted responses from both government and contractors, including faster document disclosure and completion of pending work.
Budget absorption increased by approximately 5% from the baseline, indicating improved program implementation.
The procurement pilot now is replicated in three additional pilot areas across two sectors: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Reproductive Health.

Indonesia's OECD Accession

Where Indonesia stands

Indonesia has made notable progress in transparency and public financial management systems. However, the key challenge remains to ensure that information, data, and evaluation results are effectively used to improve spending quality and strengthen oversight. Our approach focuses on promoting evidence-based decision-making, strengthening the integration of budget systems, and ensuring meaningful public oversight and participation throughout the budget cycle. This work aims to support a shift from transparency to impact-driven accountability, in line with OECD standards and best practices.

What we found

Insights:

Indonesia scored 71/100 in the Open Budget Survey (OBS) 2025, yet this has not fully translated into effective public oversight or influence over budget decisions.
Tools such as spending reviews exist but are not systematically used to inform budget allocation and reallocation.
Public engagement is still largely confined to the early stages of planning and is not meaningfully linked to actual budget decisions.

Policy Brief: Closing the Accountability: Budget Governance Reforms for Indonesia’s OECD Accession

Public Debt Transparency

Where Indonesia stands

Indonesia’s public debt management is supported by a relatively strong legal and institutional framework, along with the availability of key fiscal documents. However, debt transparency remains fragmented, with information dispersed across multiple sources and not yet comprehensively integrated. Access to critical data, such as loan terms, debt projections, and crisis management frameworks—remains limited, making it difficult for the public to fully understand the risks and implications of debt policies. In 2025–2026, a pilot assessment of the Open Budget Survey (OBS) Debt Module was conducted in 7 countries, including Indonesia, as part of the OBS 2025.

What we found

Findings in Indonesia also show that public participation in debt-related decision-making remains limited and largely indirect. Meanwhile, oversight by the legislature and audit institutions is in place but requires further strengthening, particularly through more systematic follow-up, the development of thematic audits, and forward-looking risk analysis.