Ford Foundation trying to build up philanthropic sector<\/p>\n
After working for the Ford Foundation here for nearly 31
\nyears, Suzanne Siskel will return to the United States soon. She
\nshared her experience with The Jakarta Post's Kornelius Purba in
\nwitnessing the country's journey and the result of the
\nfoundation's scholarship programs for students to study abroad
\nand other programs. Many of them later played key roles in the
\ncountry's development. The following are some excerpts of the
\nconversation.<\/p>\n
Question: Many of our U.S.-trained economists became the
\narchitects of Soeharto's economic policies, as many of them
\nreceived scholarships from the Ford Foundation. How do you see
\nit?<\/p>\n
Answer: The Ford Foundation was opened in Indonesia on the
\ninvitation of Indonesian President Sukarno to establish an office
\nin Indonesia in 1953. But the country had many needs. And one of
\nthem was it needed to have people to go to schools for the
\ncountry's development, and one of the schools was economics. And
\none of the major problems in the early days of Ford Foundation's
\nhistory was the development of economic development training
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
There were so few people at that time after the revolution who
\nhad an opportunity to undertake any kind of higher education.
\nThere was a need to train people and training could only be
\nobtained outside the country. The Ford Foundation and two other
\ndonors began to provide scholarships, and to develop the program
\nwe worked with particular universities. And we are strongly
\nassociated with University of Indonesia and Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity. The two universities, and not Ford Foundation,
\nselected promising students. Most of the people went to the
\nUnited States. They were hundreds.<\/p>\n
Many of them got PhDs. When there was change in the
\ngovernment, when Soeharto took office he put in the Cabinet
\npeople who were qualified and capable. And many of the people who
\nhave been sent abroad for studies were the most capable to help
\nbuild the new government. But Ford actually had never the
\nintention to train people who would become ministers.<\/p>\n
Many of these U.S.-trained economists helped to build the
\ncountry, but many people accused them and said they were also
\nresponsible for the economic crisis in 1997. What is your
\nreaction?<\/p>\n
I don't have full answers on it. Many people were involved in
\nthe 30 years of Soeharto's era. And I think over the years, some
\nof the people who have been involved in it earlier on had
\nretired. They may still be influential, but they were no longer
\nas influential as they have been in the past. I don't think it is
\nfair to blame any individuals because during Soeharto's
\npresidency he worked with many people. They might point to the
\npolicies they recommended, but could have been administered
\ndifferently. They might point to some advice that had never been
\nundertaken.<\/p>\n
What are things the foundation has done and will continue to
\ndo to help Indonesia to create a civil society?<\/p>\n
I am proud to say that over many years, we supported civil
\nsociety organizations in the country, long before 1998
\n(Soeharto's fall from power). We supported, sometimes the
\nconception, the creation of some NGOs, and provided support over
\nthe years for them. And what we did from the beginning was to
\ntrain productive relationships between NGOs and the government
\nand universities. And you had the government agencies making
\npolicies and NGOs working with the government to try to ensure
\nthe policies were more for the people's needs and desires. And
\nresearch was conducted by universities or research centers, so
\nthere were collaborative relationships in health, forestry,
\nagriculture and other fields that have been involved.<\/p>\n
We have tried to support civil society through programs such
\nas culture, reproductive healths, governance or environment
\ndevelopment. We also, especially in the last few years, have been
\nworking with other donor groups and other civil society groups to
\ntrain and strengthen the overall civil society sector, especially
\nin terms of more transparent governance; building more
\ncredibility for the society, especially NGOs. We have quite a lot
\nof activities now to help non-profit organizations to improve
\ntheir management, to become more accountable and transparent in
\nthe eyes of public.<\/p>\n
The other things, in which particularly I am involving myself,
\nis to try and build up the philanthropic sector. It is very
\ncommon in some parts of the world, but in Indonesia, the
\ntranslation kedermawanan, is not necessarily with everybody, it
\nis not used everyday. But it does not mean philanthropy does not
\nhappen here.<\/p>\n
What are you doing then?<\/p>\n
What we have done in the last few years was to support a lot
\nof research on philanthropy in Indonesia to find what happens.
\nThere are several research organizations that have been doing
\ntremendous works in the country. One is PIRAC (the Public
\nInterest Research and Advocacy Center) and they have been doing
\nresearch on the scope, size, scale of philanthropy in the
\ncountry. And particularly, it is looking for the more strategical
\npurpose for social changes, social justice and not just giving
\nmoney for charity. We are really trying to have an impact on the
\ncause of the problem rather than just deal with the problem
\nitself.<\/p>\n
Other research is conducted by the Gadjah Mada University. It
\nhas the Center for Language and Culture, which has been
\ncoordinating a study that took place in a number of different
\ncountries in the world on philanthropy in Muslim societies.<\/p>\n
The third partner is Kehati (Bio Diversity) Foundation and we
\nhave been working with them, not necessarily just because of the
\nbiodiversity, but because they are indeed philanthropic and they
\nare creative. One of their roles is to be a grant-maker, to
\nprovide grants for local community groups and local foundations.
\nKehati began to convene meetings of people in the philanthropic
\nsector with a handful of people, but very quickly there were 150
\npeople that began to participate.<\/p>\n
It turns out that almost everybody in this country gives money
\nor some kinds of assistance to somebody else, it does not matter
\nhow rich or poor. Very often giving is not formally channeled,
\nbut increasingly more money is going into more special kind of
\nchannels.<\/p>",
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