NGOs born out of the nation's failures

NGOs born out of the nation's failures

NGOs in Indonesia, A Study of the Role of Non Governmental
Organizations in the Development Process
By Kastorius Sinaga
Published by Verlag fuer Entwicklungspolitik Breitenbach GmbH,
Saarbruecken for Faculty of Sociology, University of Bielefeld,
Germany, 1995
Edited by Prof. Dr. Hans-Dieter Evers, Prof. Dr. Guenther Schlee,
Dr. Georg Stauth, and Dr. Helmut Buchholt
264 pages, DM 42.

JAKARTA (JP): The presence of so many non-governmental
organizations in Indonesia has markedly colored the country's
socio-political life for dozens of years. They have been involved
either directly or indirectly in many big events throughout the
New Order Administration when justice, human rights and the like
were at stake. Some people gladly welcome them as an alternative
to the current absence of conscientious bravery among the
Indonesian public. Others, however, decry them as people with
poisoned minds.

The acronym "NGO" has indeed been deeply implanted in the
hearts and minds of Indonesian society, yet the public is still
ignorant of a number of things about them. Few of the many books
about the organizations thoroughly study their socio-political
history or their present and future condition. Thanks to massive
press coverage, their outer struggle is clear, but most people
have no idea about their inner struggles.

Kastorius Sinaga's dissertation NGOs in Indonesia deserves a
warm welcome for just this reason. With this book, Kastorius has
unveiled that the seemingly strong faces of the NGOs to show
that they are no less vulnerable than most of us in the current
socio-political situation.

Kastorius opens his book by questioning the role and
development of NGOs. And asking if it is aiding the poor people's
movement or becoming "the long arm" of the powerful.

Since the early 1970s, Kastorius says, NGOs have mushroomed in
the developing countries. The Club of Rome estimated in the 1980s
that there were in excess of 60 million people in Asia, 25
million in Latin America and 12 million in Africa actively
working in the NGOs. In Indonesia alone, he says, the government
officially registered 3,251 organizations classed as NGOs in
1989, twice as many as in 1985.

The amoeba-like growth is the result of the disappointment
felt by the activists and donor countries over the failure of the
state and market in addressing issues like ecology, women, street
children, human rights and the informal sector. Government and
business concentrate on boosting GNP and economic growth at the
expense these issues.

Kastorius says the history of NGOs in Indonesia started early
this century -- although the term had not been coined yet -- when
self-financed organizations like the educational organization
Taman Siswa, the Islamic group of small traders Sarekat Islam and
the Javanese cultural organization Budi Utomo were established to
resist Dutch colonial rule. Today's NGOs, however, trace their
roots more directly to the failure of the state and market during
the New Order Administration.

Analysis

Kastorius analyses what has happened in Indonesia since the
New Order Administration took power in the 1960s -- an analysis
we are all too familiar with and are easily found in the works of
western scholars. He says the government has purposely
depoliticize the people, control all aspects of their life, in
order to create the stability the government argues is necessary
for development. Three strategic ruling groups in Indonesia --
the military, the bureaucracy, and the business community which
is dominated by Indonesians of Chinese decent and the offspring
of government officials -- have worked hand in hand to make the
strategy work.

The result is a decline of political organizations and
economic failure in the form of increased poverty. He quotes the
World Bank as saying in 1986 only 12 percent of the total GNP was
received by 40 percent of the population with the lowest income;
31,9 percent by 40 percent with moderate income and 55.9 percent
by only 20 percent with highest income. According to the
international standard, he says, if the lowest income group of 40
percent receives less than 12 percent of the total GNP, then
economic inequality has reached a serious condition.

This why NGOs have flourished. The groups vary in historical
background, methods and specific goals, but are usually set up by
the urban middle class. Kastorius discusses three lengthy case-
studies to prove his point.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), a big NGO, is
politically orientated and was established by law professionals
to help the poor with legal services. The Indonesian Credit Union
Coordination Office (CUCO-1), also a large NGO, was formed by the
Catholic Church to help the poor. The Annisa Swasti Foundation
(YASANTI), a medium-sized NGO was set up by student in Yogyakarta
to promote the role and consciousness of the weak women groups in
the province.

To illuminate how the NGOs work in the field, Kastorius takes
the World Bank financed irrigation dam in Kedung Ombo district,
Central Java as an example. His description of how 30,000 people,
mostly farmers, were forced to give up their land for the project
and their futile resistance is graphic, touching and peppered
with interesting sociological analyses. It is because of the
orchestrated efforts of NGOs, led by YLBHI, that the case at last
gained international attention, he says. Yet, the denouement of
the affair illustrates that the NGOs exploited the farmer's case
for their own benefit and the government's.

Kastorius then returns to the first question. Do the NGOs in
Indonesia serve the interests of the poor or have they become the
long arm of the government?

His answer is they all need legitimacy and access to the
strategic resources in the government-led projects for their
organizational survival. Their dependency on foreign aid, which
is unpredictable, makes them vulnerable. This leads them to
cooperate with the government, which attempts to co-opt them. In
order to be professional, they become increasingly bureaucratic
at the expense of closeness to their target group, the poor. They
therefore seem to have lost their identity, Kastorius argues.

Unfortunately Kastorius is reluctant to speculate about the
future of NGOs in Indonesia, only saying they will become "a
permanent structure of strategic groups in the society". Readers
are left wondering if the tendency means more bad than good in
the future. Will the "new strategic groups" -- however wrong
their tendency is -- place themselves as alternatives to the
ruling groups in time of crisis? He could have found possible
answers by comparing situations in other countries.

The book is written in readable English, though somewhat badly
copy edited. The wide range of data he collects, his own
interviews and heaps of information not released before makes the
book very useful. This book is worthy of immediate translation in
Indonesian.

-- Johannes Simbolon