Ford Foundation trying to build up philanthropic sector
Ford Foundation trying to build up philanthropic sector
After working for the Ford Foundation here for nearly 31
years, Suzanne Siskel will return to the United States soon. She
shared her experience with The Jakarta Post's Kornelius Purba in
witnessing the country's journey and the result of the
foundation's scholarship programs for students to study abroad
and other programs. Many of them later played key roles in the
country's development. The following are some excerpts of the
conversation.
Question: Many of our U.S.-trained economists became the
architects of Soeharto's economic policies, as many of them
received scholarships from the Ford Foundation. How do you see
it?
Answer: The Ford Foundation was opened in Indonesia on the
invitation of Indonesian President Sukarno to establish an office
in Indonesia in 1953. But the country had many needs. And one of
them was it needed to have people to go to schools for the
country's development, and one of the schools was economics. And
one of the major problems in the early days of Ford Foundation's
history was the development of economic development training
programs.
There were so few people at that time after the revolution who
had an opportunity to undertake any kind of higher education.
There was a need to train people and training could only be
obtained outside the country. The Ford Foundation and two other
donors began to provide scholarships, and to develop the program
we worked with particular universities. And we are strongly
associated with University of Indonesia and Gadjah Mada
University. The two universities, and not Ford Foundation,
selected promising students. Most of the people went to the
United States. They were hundreds.
Many of them got PhDs. When there was change in the
government, when Soeharto took office he put in the Cabinet
people who were qualified and capable. And many of the people who
have been sent abroad for studies were the most capable to help
build the new government. But Ford actually had never the
intention to train people who would become ministers.
Many of these U.S.-trained economists helped to build the
country, but many people accused them and said they were also
responsible for the economic crisis in 1997. What is your
reaction?
I don't have full answers on it. Many people were involved in
the 30 years of Soeharto's era. And I think over the years, some
of the people who have been involved in it earlier on had
retired. They may still be influential, but they were no longer
as influential as they have been in the past. I don't think it is
fair to blame any individuals because during Soeharto's
presidency he worked with many people. They might point to the
policies they recommended, but could have been administered
differently. They might point to some advice that had never been
undertaken.
What are things the foundation has done and will continue to
do to help Indonesia to create a civil society?
I am proud to say that over many years, we supported civil
society organizations in the country, long before 1998
(Soeharto's fall from power). We supported, sometimes the
conception, the creation of some NGOs, and provided support over
the years for them. And what we did from the beginning was to
train productive relationships between NGOs and the government
and universities. And you had the government agencies making
policies and NGOs working with the government to try to ensure
the policies were more for the people's needs and desires. And
research was conducted by universities or research centers, so
there were collaborative relationships in health, forestry,
agriculture and other fields that have been involved.
We have tried to support civil society through programs such
as culture, reproductive healths, governance or environment
development. We also, especially in the last few years, have been
working with other donor groups and other civil society groups to
train and strengthen the overall civil society sector, especially
in terms of more transparent governance; building more
credibility for the society, especially NGOs. We have quite a lot
of activities now to help non-profit organizations to improve
their management, to become more accountable and transparent in
the eyes of public.
The other things, in which particularly I am involving myself,
is to try and build up the philanthropic sector. It is very
common in some parts of the world, but in Indonesia, the
translation kedermawanan, is not necessarily with everybody, it
is not used everyday. But it does not mean philanthropy does not
happen here.
What are you doing then?
What we have done in the last few years was to support a lot
of research on philanthropy in Indonesia to find what happens.
There are several research organizations that have been doing
tremendous works in the country. One is PIRAC (the Public
Interest Research and Advocacy Center) and they have been doing
research on the scope, size, scale of philanthropy in the
country. And particularly, it is looking for the more strategical
purpose for social changes, social justice and not just giving
money for charity. We are really trying to have an impact on the
cause of the problem rather than just deal with the problem
itself.
Other research is conducted by the Gadjah Mada University. It
has the Center for Language and Culture, which has been
coordinating a study that took place in a number of different
countries in the world on philanthropy in Muslim societies.
The third partner is Kehati (Bio Diversity) Foundation and we
have been working with them, not necessarily just because of the
biodiversity, but because they are indeed philanthropic and they
are creative. One of their roles is to be a grant-maker, to
provide grants for local community groups and local foundations.
Kehati began to convene meetings of people in the philanthropic
sector with a handful of people, but very quickly there were 150
people that began to participate.
It turns out that almost everybody in this country gives money
or some kinds of assistance to somebody else, it does not matter
how rich or poor. Very often giving is not formally channeled,
but increasingly more money is going into more special kind of
channels.
After working for the Ford Foundation here for nearly 31
years, Suzanne Siskel will return to the United States soon. She
shared her experience with The Jakarta Post's Kornelius Purba in
witnessing the country's journey and the result of the
foundation's scholarship programs for students to study abroad
and other programs. Many of them later played key roles in the
country's development. The following are some excerpts of the
conversation.
Question: Many of our U.S.-trained economists became the
architects of Soeharto's economic policies, as many of them
received scholarships from the Ford Foundation. How do you see
it?
Answer: The Ford Foundation was opened in Indonesia on the
invitation of Indonesian President Sukarno to establish an office
in Indonesia in 1953. But the country had many needs. And one of
them was it needed to have people to go to schools for the
country's development, and one of the schools was economics. And
one of the major problems in the early days of Ford Foundation's
history was the development of economic development training
programs.
There were so few people at that time after the revolution who
had an opportunity to undertake any kind of higher education.
There was a need to train people and training could only be
obtained outside the country. The Ford Foundation and two other
donors began to provide scholarships, and to develop the program
we worked with particular universities. And we are strongly
associated with University of Indonesia and Gadjah Mada
University. The two universities, and not Ford Foundation,
selected promising students. Most of the people went to the
United States. They were hundreds.
Many of them got PhDs. When there was change in the
government, when Soeharto took office he put in the Cabinet
people who were qualified and capable. And many of the people who
have been sent abroad for studies were the most capable to help
build the new government. But Ford actually had never the
intention to train people who would become ministers.
Many of these U.S.-trained economists helped to build the
country, but many people accused them and said they were also
responsible for the economic crisis in 1997. What is your
reaction?
I don't have full answers on it. Many people were involved in
the 30 years of Soeharto's era. And I think over the years, some
of the people who have been involved in it earlier on had
retired. They may still be influential, but they were no longer
as influential as they have been in the past. I don't think it is
fair to blame any individuals because during Soeharto's
presidency he worked with many people. They might point to the
policies they recommended, but could have been administered
differently. They might point to some advice that had never been
undertaken.
What are things the foundation has done and will continue to
do to help Indonesia to create a civil society?
I am proud to say that over many years, we supported civil
society organizations in the country, long before 1998
(Soeharto's fall from power). We supported, sometimes the
conception, the creation of some NGOs, and provided support over
the years for them. And what we did from the beginning was to
train productive relationships between NGOs and the government
and universities. And you had the government agencies making
policies and NGOs working with the government to try to ensure
the policies were more for the people's needs and desires. And
research was conducted by universities or research centers, so
there were collaborative relationships in health, forestry,
agriculture and other fields that have been involved.
We have tried to support civil society through programs such
as culture, reproductive healths, governance or environment
development. We also, especially in the last few years, have been
working with other donor groups and other civil society groups to
train and strengthen the overall civil society sector, especially
in terms of more transparent governance; building more
credibility for the society, especially NGOs. We have quite a lot
of activities now to help non-profit organizations to improve
their management, to become more accountable and transparent in
the eyes of public.
The other things, in which particularly I am involving myself,
is to try and build up the philanthropic sector. It is very
common in some parts of the world, but in Indonesia, the
translation kedermawanan, is not necessarily with everybody, it
is not used everyday. But it does not mean philanthropy does not
happen here.
What are you doing then?
What we have done in the last few years was to support a lot
of research on philanthropy in Indonesia to find what happens.
There are several research organizations that have been doing
tremendous works in the country. One is PIRAC (the Public
Interest Research and Advocacy Center) and they have been doing
research on the scope, size, scale of philanthropy in the
country. And particularly, it is looking for the more strategical
purpose for social changes, social justice and not just giving
money for charity. We are really trying to have an impact on the
cause of the problem rather than just deal with the problem
itself.
Other research is conducted by the Gadjah Mada University. It
has the Center for Language and Culture, which has been
coordinating a study that took place in a number of different
countries in the world on philanthropy in Muslim societies.
The third partner is Kehati (Bio Diversity) Foundation and we
have been working with them, not necessarily just because of the
biodiversity, but because they are indeed philanthropic and they
are creative. One of their roles is to be a grant-maker, to
provide grants for local community groups and local foundations.
Kehati began to convene meetings of people in the philanthropic
sector with a handful of people, but very quickly there were 150
people that began to participate.
It turns out that almost everybody in this country gives money
or some kinds of assistance to somebody else, it does not matter
how rich or poor. Very often giving is not formally channeled,
but increasingly more money is going into more special kind of
channels.