Institut Tata Kepemerintahan Popular Indonesia

Since mid of August 2006, ITPI has been takes an initiatives to mastering and advocate health and education issues as human rights in Indonesia that use the prominent part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, of the Covenant on the    rights of the Child; of the Millennium Declaration and Indonesian framework.  For this program, ITPI is conducting capacity building activities through a three-day workshop and focus group discussion in different cities in Indonesia.

This is actually a mixture of training and focus group discussion.  The objectives of these activities were to increase collective awareness’ of marginalized group for their rights; and second to encourage dialogues among civil society, local government officers and legislative members.  In a local level, ITPI taking an initiative to organized grass-root and develop their own capacity to able to do advocating local policy reform on health and education.   By creating regional and national advocacy network on health and education for marginalized groups, ITPI could able to develop new approach for people advocacy strategies.  ITPI felt confident that organized grass-root could contribute to better democratic governance through putting pressure on local government to perform their functions properly; through demonstrating “good” governance in the internal workings of their own organizations; and through demonstrating democratic behavior in all interactions with citizens including in their programmes.  In this manner, Community-based organization helps to promote and propagate a clearer role for citizens in the democratic functioning of the state.

Starting from January 2007, ITPI has been taken an initiative to crafting national network on citizen forum that consists of more than 300 citizen forums and associations.  At the beginning stage, ITPI was inviting 17 Indonesian NGOs who have focus program on citizen forum. So, the following stage the network is called as Kaukus 17++  that supported by more than 17 NGOs who have focus program in local democracy governance. The network is deals with the issues of poverty reduction, gender balance, good governance, public services and people’s participation.  In this network the role of ITPI is a steering committee coordinator.  Through this network, ITPI could able to develop up scaling strategies and using it as a national vehicle for advocacy.  ITPI and other Indonesian NGOs that crafting this network believe that strong citizen forums on their own contribute significantly to the building of social capital and can have a profound influence on democratic governance at the local level. In order to broaden their impact, these organizations must join together in formal networks of loose coalitions to promote common interests.  National level advocacy organizations need information on “real” issues at the grassroots in order to develop successful advocacy strategies.  These strategies require strong networks to implement the strategies at all levels.  One of ITPI programme  focus on strengthening networks and coalitions of local citizen forums, helping them to link more effectively with national NGOs and other citizen’s coalitions and networks.

From March 27 to April 15, 2006, three persons from Indramayu, Solo, and Palembang as representative of marginalized groups and community organizer were conducted comparative study to the Philippines.  They visit the Philippines’ marginalized groups to share and learn each other. This program was a response of Eddy Tingcon’s visit to Indonesia last September 2005. He brought an idea of developing local good governance networking between Indonesia and the Philippines and linked the marginalized groups between the two countries as well.  Liga Mga Barangay of the Philippines was become a host of this comparative  visit study.  The study teams were visit Manila, Nueva Vizcaya and Naga City. The team met many people in the Philippines such as the national congress members, the members of Liga Mga barangay, some marginalized groups in some cities, some  governor and city’s Mayor, university lecturer, visit many villages for learning and sharing, discuss with multi-stakeholders within 5 cities. The three gays that visited Philippines became key persons in do motivation in their own community members. They are also became the leaders for a national citizen forum exchange program that started in between the four ITPI’s sites such as Indramayu, Cimahi, Solo and Palembang city.  Within the four sites, ITPI try to facilitated meeting people to people with the same interests and issues.

From December 8-15, 2006 ITPI and its national network were attended in ASEAN Civil Society Conference in Cebu the Philippines.  The event was organized by joint collaboration among the regional Asia NGOs and the local Philippines ones.  ITPI was presented its achievement programs on urban poor straggles to get better life in terms of education and health services.  During that conference, ITPI got many new contacts and similar sharing from other ASEAN countries members NGOs.