Overcoming Distrust by Thinking and Working Politically

As in many democratizing countries, civil society organizations (CSOs) in Indonesia are often met with resistance from government officials who are suspicious of their activities and sensitive to critiques. The USAID-funded Indonesia MADANI Civil Society Support Initiative aims to foster a more vibrant, reputable, and self-reliant local civil society in which decision making takes place in partnership with local governments that are accountable to all citizens and capable of combating communal intolerance. Using a case from a town in Central Java in which the project’s CSO partner was blacklisted after attending a seminar criticizing the town’s leadership, the project used a combination of “cultural” and “technocratic” approaches to regain its working relationship with the government. Through quick political thinking, mobilizing relationships and a diverse coalition of voices, and the resulting adaptation, the project succeeded in reverting the government’s focus to the CSO’s contributions to development, allowing the CSO to achieve concrete policy and budget changes that resulted in service improvements. The local CSO has also been successful in advocating the local government to replicate the CSO’s work and has obtained funding from the private sector. The revision of the project’s approach has resulted in USAID being more effective in achieving its objectives. Together with USAID, MADANI has shared and discussed lessons learned from this case with staff and with other CSO partners through learning events, including on the importance of mapping local government champions of civil society participation that can facilitate informal communication spaces.