Building the Capacity of the Executive Local Government Associations In Indonesia

Association of Indonesian Municipalities Association of Indonesian Regencies Association of Indonesian Provinces Founders’ meetings in May and June 2000 Background

Background – League of Oregon Cities Almost 80 years’ experience as a local government association in member service provision, advocacy, and assisting improved management of local governments

Background – Indonesia decentralization reform legislation in 1999 Central government establishes Board for Consideration of Regional Autonomy to advise President of Indonesia APKESI, APKASI, APPSI to have representative function

Problem Statement Newly-founded LGAs with no experience in member-service oriented organizations No experience with the role that local government associations play in intergovernmental debate and discussion External conditions that inhibited their ability to foster member involvement and a sense of ownership Size of country and lack of communications infrastructure made it difficult to reach the membership No prior experience or exposure to member programs and services or advocacy to improve management and services at the local government level

Project Description Project League of Oregon Cities on three key areas for association development: - Improve communication with and encourage active participation of members - Improve association advocacy - Training and staff human resource development in association management and service delivery

Key Steps – Training and Mentoring ”Advocacy and Coalition Building” workshop “Board and Executive Roles and Responsibilities” workshop Junior secretariat staff “credentialed” in advocacy skills with 1-week internships Training on clarifying and defining the roles and responsibilities of Boards versus Executive Directors and secretariat staff

Key Steps – Observation and Comparative Study Tours Board of Directors, Executive Directors, secretariat staff observed US local government administration Board of Directors, Executive Directors, secretariat staff observed LOC Board of Directors’ meetings, association policy development committees, and secretariat staff meetings Secretariat staff exposed to city resource center, member conference development, member services, member communications vehicles

Key Steps – Direct Technical Assistance LOC Executive Director conducted working sessions with Indonesia Directors on: - managing the association budget; - setting organizational priorities; - human resource capacity building of secretariat staff; - how to use the association budget in annual workplan development and goal setting.

Results – Improved Communications Understand important role that communications plays for connecting with members Developed membership newsletters, membership database, and other communications vehicles Expanded their membership base beyond the chief executive to other local officials such as sekda, bappeda

Results – Association Advocacy Recognize value of building coalitions among the other executive and legislative associations to support and strengthen their position Are actively recognizing their place in the intergovernmental dialogue on issues of regional autonomy Have actively advocated members’ viewpoints and opinions before the central government and parliament

Results – Staff Development and Organizational Management Expanded their revenue base beyond membership dues to provide more services and member functions Executive directors have given more authorities to staff to conduct programs and services for members Association staffs have greatly increased their skills and capabilities and are actively providing programs and services for members Secretariat offices are trying to cultivate a more active interest in the association by working with board members and members at-large to explain their role in improving a member- needs driven organization

Lessons Learned – Association Capacity Building Providing meaningful membership services takes time and effort and a lot of human resources Communications with members and identifying their issues is an important effort for staff in figuring out what kinds of programs and services their members find valuable Building the trust and a sense of belonging by the members is critical to the future success of the associations

Sustainability – Continuation of Partnership After a successful and valuable 18-month partnership, the Board of the League of Oregon Cities voted to extend the partnership Offer of a one-month intensive internship with APEKSI staff to observe details of how association serves its members to improve governance

Transfer – Other Indonesian Local Government Associations APKASI, APEKSI, APPSI can transfer skill sets, organizational models and processes of professional association management and services to the legislative association counterparts

Contact APEKSI Rusfi Yunairi Phone: (62+21) APKASI Novel Abdul Gofur Phone: (62+21) APPSI Mukhlis Abidi Phone: (62+21)