The Research
ADRA Case Studies
Dr Ian Wilson
Governance and the informal street economy in Jakarta
The informal sector covers a wide range of economic activities, including casual jobs, small-scale entrepreneurial activity and work operating outside of government regulation, making it a complex and problematic area of governance. In urban centres in Indonesia it constitutes up to 60% of the total work force, providing an important buffer against poverty. However, the sector is almost completely unrepresented in policy-formation processes and governance strategies. The aim of this case study is to assess the nature and impact of existing policy relating to governance of the urban informal sector in Jakarta, focusing on the representation of stakeholders in the policy making process. The study will ask, what political and economic interests have been represented in the policy process and how have they affected current policy directions? How adequate are levels of representation for the informal sector, and what can be done to ensure it translates into effective and equitable policy and governance outcomes?
Associate Professor Caroline Hughes
Social accountability and the World Bank in Cambodia
The World Bank is co-funding, with AusAID, a project to stimulate demand for good governance in Cambodia among ‘non-state actors’ such as NGOs, community organizations, independent media, think tanks and citizens themselves’. The case study will examine the relationships between the various actors who might benefit from this scheme and the World Bank and how these are negotiated. It asks: What kind of good governance is expected to be demanded? How are these expectations transmitted to local ‘partners’ and ‘stakeholders’? Will there be challenges to the World Bank’s vision of good governance? Will there be new, genuinely useful political resources for the poor? How does the program relate to the overarching context of rapid economic transformation?
Dr Jane Hutchison
Demand for shelter security/urban land reform in Manila
Shelter security is a key component of urban poverty alleviation. This case study will examine the drivers for change with respect to the release of public land for low income housing in Manila. In particular, it will consider the outcomes of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) current efforts to foster private sector support for this land release through their parallel interests in accessing land for commercial development. The study will consider how national and local governments respond to these moves and what positions are adopted by the various church-based NGOs. The hypothesis is that past political obstacles to the provision of public land for socialised housing might be lowered by the ADB’s mediation of private commercial interests and via strategic lobbying within and by the Catholic Church.
Dr Aris Mundayat, Dr Nico Warouw and Prof Mochtar Mas’oed
Participatory budgeting in Mataram, Nusa Tenggara
Despite increased levels of popular participation being central to post-1998 political reforms in Indonesia, the level of citizen’s direct involvement in economic development remains minimal. This comparative absence has resulted in uneven distribution of resources and limited success for development programs. This is particularly the case for women’s participation and representation in policy-making process (i.e. in health, social welfare). Budget allocation to these fields is, in practice, a subject of contestation and negotiation amongst parties and interest groups at both the local and national level. Working with local government, the case-study will identify existing civil society institutions with the potential for genuine popular representation in policy-making processes, in this case, participatory budgeting in Mataram, Nusa Tenggara Barat. It will ask how participatory budgeting can contribute to making the development process more effective. What formal mechanisms and non-formal institutions at the local level can help foster increased citizen’s participation? How can gender inequalities be addressed?
