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IFES - Indonesia

Indonesia

Following the fall of General Suharto in 1998 after some 30 years of dictatorship, Indonesia is moving through the transition to democracy. They held their first free and democratic parliamentary elections in 1999, and their first direct presidential elections in 2004—the largest and most complex election held anywhere in the world in a single day. The elected government has been making progress towards decentralizing power to some 400 local governments.

IFES has been working in Indonesia since 1998.

Current Projects

Strengthening the Capacities of Indonesia's Regional Legislators

This project aims both to enhance the credibility of the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah or DPD) by building and encouraging constituency outreach by its members and to increase the effectiveness of the DPD as a legislative body by increasing its access to locally produced research and policy analysis.

Educating Active Citizens

The media in Indonesia play a pivotal role in the democratization process. As surveys show, 85% of people get their information from television.

IFES is working with Trans-TV on the production of a television documentary series of vignettes on “Civil Society – The Fabric of Democracy.” The 20 to 30 5-minute vignettes created through this project are to be shown on Trans-TV during twice daily scheduled newscasts, Monday through Friday, beginning in late 2005. The vignettes will also be produced as an educational series (complete with teacher’s guide), and 1,000 copies will be distributed to educational institutions in Indonesia.

The vignettes cover issues such as what a civil society organization (CSO) is; who participates in CSOs; how CSOs function at the national, regional and local levels; and why a society might have CSOs.

Past Projects in Indonesia »