Humility and sensitivity are keys to Asia Foundation's success

JAKARTA (JP): A major sore point in international development cooperation is the perception held by developing countries that developed states which provide assistance often attach conditions and prescribe values which are ill-timed or unsuitable.

Various private organizations which seek to assist in a country's political development face the same predicament. They must ideally help to strengthen civil society without becoming patronizing or haughty.

Asia Foundation President William P. Fuller has stressed that humility and sensitivity are important in development cooperation efforts. He said that no one should assume that an economically- developed state is better than others.

"Nobody should assume there's a right set of answers all the time," he told The Jakarta Post.

Fuller, in Jakarta to attend the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Foundation's office here, revealed some of his organization's secrets for working in Indonesia and other Asian countries.

"We always respond to requests that comes from organizations from a country in which we're located," he said. He said that this generates local interest in the Foundation.

"In every society there are impulses to move toward economic reforms and in some societies it may be broadly based and others narrowly based. I think what has been important for us is to find those leading edges and be supportive of them," he said.

The second element is to respect local perceptions and viewpoints.

"We're very respectful of the diversity in the region, and of the pace and sequence of political and economic change," Fuller said.

Prior to joining the Asia Foundation in 1989, Fuller had worked extensively in the field as Deputy Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The Asia Foundation has been noted as an organization which adopts an unobtrusive approach, working within the confines of government systems.

It has tended to shy away from a confrontational approach on sensitive political issues, choosing instead to work cooperatively with, rather than against, the established formal institutions.

"In the end there's no doubt we believe that open societies are valuable. But decisions on how to get there and over what period of time is something for local consideration," Fuller said.

A member of the Foundation's board of trustees, Harry Harding who accompanied Fuller on his trip here, defended the non- antagonistic approach.

"A great deal can be accomplished when you take a stance of cooperating with other societies rather than confronting them on issues such as human rights," he said. This does not mean criticism should be muzzled.

"Obviously there is a role for well-meaning criticism, so I'm not saying that criticism should never be part of the picture," he said.

Harding, dean of the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, also criticized short-sighted approaches which focus on derision rather than empathy.

"My own view is that Americans tend to see this process too much as a process of criticism, confrontation, denunciation and don't see how important a role can be played by active cooperation," he said.

Fuller added that it was useless for developing societies to progress at an accelerated pace if they failed to consider the various complexities that might arise.

"There are important factors to look at before making judgments on the pace of reform. It is terribly important to understand some of the negative consequences coming from foreign processes and to ensure that they're being dealt with along the way, rather than saying go, go, go all the time," he said.

Apart from respecting local needs, Fuller noted the importance of well qualified field representatives to assess circumstances correctly.

"I think one of our distinctive features is that we've been here in Asia for a long, long time. I think that gives us an historical institutional view that is very helpful in making decisions on what works and what doesn't," Fuller said.

"We're not new to this business. We've followed the evolution of society for a long time and that's a real asset," he added.