Participatory Evaluation Mechanism for Local Government Programs (ID0158)

Project Overview

To socialize and encourage the implementation of transparent and participatory evaluations of regional government programs using the Program Review.

Targed Issues

To date, evaluations of government programs at the local level have generally been internal, administrative, and top-down, carried out by inspectorates or planning departments without directly involving the beneficiaries, namely the community. Evaluations have focused more on compliance with regulations, operational procedures, and financial reports, rather than on the effectiveness of programs in the field. In fact, for public service programs such as health, education, and social assistance, the community—especially vulnerable groups— are the ones most affected by the ineffectiveness or failure of programs. It is also the community that best understands whether a program truly meets their needs or not. Unfortunately, public response and assessment are rarely used as references, so evaluation results often do not reflect the real conditions. This problem occurs almost throughout Indonesia and has been going on for more than two decades, since the implementation of regional autonomy. Communities in areas with weak government institutional capacity feel the impact the most because programs run without meaningful public feedback. Through this commitment, the evaluation approach will be change to be more participatory and open, so that public policies can be formulated based on the real needs of the community, be more inclusive, and increase public trust in the government

Causes of the Problem

The main problem is that the evaluation of regional government programs is not participatory and is not conducted openly. This is due to several causes, namely: Indonesia's closed bureaucratic culture, which considers the evaluation of government programs to be an internal government matters A lack of understanding among government officials about the essence of a participatory development approach, and a lack of awareness of the importance of feedback from the community because they consider the community to be insufficiently "expert" in assessing government programs; The absence of regulations or implementing rules that require the systematic and direct involvement of the community; and The unavailability of mechanisms that are considered appropriate and can be used by the community to evaluate government programs.

Proposed Solutions

The solution is to utilize the Program Review as a mechanism for evaluating government programs by involving the community as beneficiaries. Since 2020, with the support of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Koso Nippon and the Tifa Foundation have been promoting the Program Review in Indonesia. As a result, in 2022, two villages in Bantul Regency became pilot projects, namely Guwosari Village and Sriharjo Village. Interestingly, to date, both villages continue to implement the Program Review every year. This commitment is enshrined in village regulations on the implementation of the community-based Program Review, namely Sriharjo Village Regulation No. 2 of 2023 and Guwosari Village Regulation No. 1 of 2023. Both villages have reaped the benefits of this program. The impact of the Program Review is reflected in the city of Surabaya, which implemented it in 2023. The Surabaya City Government assessed that the food assistance program was inefficient because it overlapped with BLT recipients. After an evaluation involving the community through the Program Review, it was decided that the food program would be abolished and replaced entirely by BLT. Many other changes were felt by local governments through this Program Review. Therefore, replication of this program is very necessary, especially for local governments that are not yet familiar with this program

Relevance to 5 OGI Strateic Issues

Inclusive Public Services. Program Review involves beneficiaries and randomly selected vulnerable groups in the evaluation of public service programs and ensures that their voices are heard in subsequent policy-making. Civic Space and Democracy. The Program Review involves citizens in assessing the effectiveness of government programs so that community involvement is not limited to the planning stage, thereby strengthening deliberative democracy

Relevance to the the Government's Priority Agenda

Asta Cita 6. Program Review strengthens the accountability and effectiveness of regional strategic programs through participatory evaluation. Asta Cita 1. Program Review promotes open and participatory evaluation to strengthen deliberative democracy. Asta Cita 4. Program Review improves the quality of public services and welfare through community involvement. Asta Cita 7. Program Review realizes good governance through structured and transparent evaluation.

Expected Outcomes

Program Review helps reduce programs that do not have a positive impact on society Program Review reduces budget waste by discontinuing programs that do not provide benefits or positive impacts on society A change in the government’s perspective from internal evaluation to participatory evaluation involving the community--from administrative and procedural evaluation to evaluation that also measures the impact of programs on the community Program Review is one of the approaches that is implemented consistently and continuously A policy recommendations from the relevant local government that can be implemented to; for example a regent’s regulation on citizen involvement in program evaluation. Technical guidelines/curriculum are available to train local officials to be able to carry out Program Review independently

Commitment Plan

Results Indicators | Output | Timeline

At least 5 regions that have implemented Program Review, will continue in 2026-2027 1. Panaikang Village, Sinjai Regency, South Sulawesi; 2. Sriharjo & Guwosari Village, Bantul Regency; 3. Sinjai Regency South Sulawesi 4. North Lampung Regency; 5. Surabaya City | Implementation of the Program Review at: 1.Panaikang Village, Sinjai Regency, South Sulawesi; 2.Sriharjo & Guwosari Village, 3.Sinjai Regency South Sulawesi 4.North Lampung Regency; 5.Surabaya City | M12 (2026) M24 (2027)

Addition of at least five new regions that are implementing the Program Review for the first time 1.Wukirsari Village, Bantul Regency; 2. Pringsewu Regency, Lampung Province 3. West Kotawaringin Regency; 4. North Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi; and 5. East Sumba Regency. | Program Review Implementation in: 1.Wukirsari Village, Bantul Regency; 2.Pringsewu Regency, Lampung Province 3.West Kotawaringin Regency; 4.North Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi; and 5.East Sumba Regency. | M6 (2026) (Wukirsari Village, Pringsewu Regency, West Kotawaringin Regency) M24 (2027

Enhancing the capacity of government officials to independently implement the Program Review | 1.Conducting focus group discussions to develop a preliminary framework for training modules and concepts with the Center for Standardization and Certification, and local governments | Estimated final output for year-1 (B-06)
2.Curriculum and Module syllabus for Program Review | Estimated final output for year-1
(B-12)
3.Document on plans to improve the competence of government officials
4.Report on the implementation of the Program Review Training of Trainers (TOT) pilot test as the initial stage of testing the quality of the material and the readiness of prospective trainers.
5.Report on the Implementation of the TOT Program Review for officials from five regions. | Estimated final output for year-2 (B-18)
6.Documents containing the results of evaluations of TOT implementation, including the effectiveness of materials, training methods, and the readiness of trainers in the regions. | Estimated final output for year-2 (B-24)
7.Revised module curriculum and syllabus. 8. Implementation strategy documents to ensure that the Program Review can be carried out in a more standardized, adaptive, and sustainable manner.