INDONESIA

AT A GLANCE
Official Name: Republic of Indonesia
Chief of State: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Next election: 2014
Capital: Jakarta
Population: 229.97 million (UN, 2009)
Independence: 1945 from the Netherlands
Human Development Index: 111 of 182 countries (UN, 2009)
Gender Gap Index: 92 of 134 countries (World Economic Forum, 2009)
Gross National Income per capita: US$2,010 (World Bank, 2009)

Strengthening Foreign Policy Planning and Development through Good Governance Practices

PHASE I
Status: Complete, 2008
Local Organization: Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Policy Planning and Development Agency (BPPK)
Canadian Experts: William Cowie, James Gould and Cindy Hanson

Indonesia is currently pursuing a democratic and decentralized model of development. A key feature of this model is the empowerment of civil society to influence policy-making. Canadian experts William Cowie, James Gould and Cindy Hanson assisted the Government of Indonesia in building its capacity for sound policy analysis and development in the area of international relations, inclusive of civil society participation. This CIDA-funded Deployment for Democratic Development (DDD) initiative focused on strengthening the Department of Foreign Affairs’ capacity for collecting and analyzing data in more gender-sensitive ways; supporting civil society participation in policy making; and improving foreign policy formulation. In consultation with the Policy Analysis and Development Agency (BPPK), the Canadian experts also designed a suitable short-term staff training module and training of trainers program to ensure sustainability beyond the initial training.

PHASE II
Status: Complete, 2010
Local Organization: Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Policy Planning and Development Agency (BPPK)
Canadian Experts: Naomi Alboim, David Elder and Barbara Porrett

As follow-up to assistance provided to the Government of Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Policy Planning and Development Agency (BPPK) in 2008, DDD experts Naomi Alboim and David Elder helped develop a training of trainers program in order to institutionalize the 2008 policy planning and development training program. They worked to ensure that the BPPK has policy analysts/planners with the skills to train new staff. In April 2010, they organized a policy development workshop, a train-the-trainers workshop and an organizational effectiveness workshop. An e-library training session to improve access to relevant electronic resources was also held and facilitated by Barbara Porrett, a Manager of Systems and Collections at the International Development Research Centre.

The policy development workshop dealt with the techniques of identifying policy issues, establishing priorities, determining national interests, assessing foreign policy assets, recommending instruments to give effect to foreign policy actions, collecting and analyzing data, consulting both inside and outside government, assessing the effect on various population groups, including gender, using policy networks, developing and assessing options, and writing persuasive proposals. The train-the-trainers workshop covered different learning and training styles, determining training needs, setting out learning objectives, developing learning activities. Participants in the organizational effectiveness workshops discussed ways to improve communication and coordination within BPPK, and between BPPK and the operational units of the Ministry. The e-library sessions introduced participants to commercial and open Internet resources as well as effective search techniques to improve information retrieval. Sustainable access to authoritative e-resources by BPPK staff to develop well researched and quality policy recommendations will require a financial commitment from BPPK management, for example to purchase commercial research database subscriptions and to cover the cost of document delivery. The second and final sessions of the policy development and train-the-trainers workshops took place in summer of 2010.