Project’s Background

The administration of President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono has put bureaucratic reform as a top priority in the national development agenda. The Office of the Vice President (VP) has been commissioned to lead the reform process and, in the first year, has led the government in implementing reform measures concentrated in some selected Ministries. The initial success is in laying the tracks for systemic changes by establishing the Grand Design for Bureaucratic Reform, which was done in collaboration with the Committee for Guiding Bureaucratic Reform (Komite Pengarah Reformasi Birokrasi). This Grand Design focuses on efforts to reform systems of government in pilot Ministries. Continued facilitation and leadership to follow through this result are needed to achieve the immediate impacts of tangible improvement in the performance and working culture of an effective, coordinated and accountable government. The reform successes will be key to a more effective government that delivers real economic welfare for the people of Indonesia.

The Indonesian Constitution requires that the State protects its citizens, improves their welfare and brightens their lives, as well as participates in keeping world order. The Bureaucratic Reform is to create high performing, highly responsive, highly accountable and politically neutral public management in support of the leaders and institutions of the State that will eventually deliver the above Constitutional mandates in the form of improved services to the public. The leaders in public institutions – Ministers, Government Officials at Echelon I and II and other leading public officials – must give priorities on improving their capacities – structural, institutional and managerial – to assure solid and enduring performance of their respective institutions. In concerted and collective efforts, those leaders are required to deliver the Constitutional mandates as promised in the political campaigns that put the political leaders in power as well as to assure effective and accountable performance in their respective programmatic management strata. In order to make this happen, a well-consolidated change management plans and strategies must be put in place as the common platforms.

Project purpose and components

The purposes of this proposed Assistance to the first stage are twofold:

a)    To provide policy advice to the Vice President in leading whole-of-government bureaucratic reform, and
b)    To provide strategic planning and management advice to members of the Committee for Guiding Bureaucratic Reform on changing systems and frameworks of government.

The Assistance in support of the above objectives is provided by creating a small highly focused advisory team under the Deputy for Governance in the Vice President’s Office or stationed with BR partners. This small team will expand the capacity of the Vice President and his staff to provide encouragement and guidance to ministers so that they will demand and achieve higher performance from their ministries, and through the ministries according to current policy and portfolios, to oblige all agencies of government to achieve higher performance in serving the public, especially in services that improve wellbeing of society throughout the country.

There are six components of the technical assistance to the Office of the Vice President as follows:

Component1: Dialogue. Preparation of events and materials for Setwapres to lead a national dialogue on policies, values, principles and hard choices in implementing public sector management reforms. This dialogue will include an Australia-Indonesia Dialogue on Bureaucratic Reform, and a concentrated effort to involve the media in making the process of reform transparent.

Component 2: Introducing Change Management. Preparation of policy advice on Vice Presidential leadership of the public sector change program: creating a service culture, introducing best value principles, personal strategic planning of senior executives, and detailed work planning of their programs. It will also include the promotion of principle-based legislation.

Component 3: Advising on strategic planning and management of bureaucratic reform. Strategic planning and management advice to KPRBN, TI, TQA and UPRBN and their members, in order to help the effectiveness of these ministries  in their critical function of enabling reformers throughout government to be more effective.

Component 4: Guidance to ministries with hard choices. Consistent with the advice from TI and TQA, preparation of advice to Seswapres on how to guide ministers and their senior executive teams on hard and dilemmatic choices.

Component 5: Partner Engagement. Preparation of advice to Seswapres on promoting engagement of all stakeholders in improved performance of government and Bureaucratic Reform, and assistance in engaging partners as requested. Already this is beginning to include greater engagement of universities, professional associations, donors, media, and CSOs, and will develop to involve politicians.

Component 6: Accountability. Consistent with the advice of TI and TQA, preparation of materials on continual improvement of accountability systems, with emphasis on the accountability of the change process itself, maintaining highest ethical standards and accountability of the technical assistance being provided.

The Partnership has entered a grant agreement with Australian Government (Ausaid) to provide the technical assistance for the project and manage its activities.
 

TBTKP is proposing to provide a contract to highly-creative advisor with extensive experience and a long and proved commitment to reform, to improve our capacity in advocacy of performance reforms within ministries and through ministries that will lead to improving public service delivery. The activities to be performed will depend on the development of agreements between Deputi Seswapres TKP and selected ministries, including both education and business investment, described as a cascading of the components mentioned above:

Component 1: Dialogue. The adviser will help manage events and prepare materials for government institutions (K/L or Pemda) dialogue on policies, values, principles and hard choices in implementing sectoral reforms.

Component 2: Introducing Change Management. The adviser will prepare policy advice on change management in selected K/L and sectors of Pemda.

Component 3: Advising on strategic planning and management of bureaucratic reform. The adviser may be requested to prepare strategic planning and management advice to the ministerial teams planning reforms.

Component 4: Guidance to divisions with hard choices. Consistent with the advice from TI and TQA, the adviser may be requested to prepare of advice throughout the service-delivery system on how to guide ministers and senior executives on hard and dilemmatic choices.

Component 5: Partner Engagement. The adviser may be required to prepare advice to K/L or Pemda on promoting engagement of stakeholders in improved performance.

Component 6: Accountability. Consistent with the advice of TI and TQA, the adviser may be asked to prepare materials on continual improvement of accountability throughout service-delivery systems, with emphasis on the accountability of the change process itself, maintaining highest ethical standards and accountability of the technical assistance being provided.