Provincial Governance Strengthening Programme

The programme tackle the challenges and shortcomings in Indonesia's national development planning system, emphasizing the neglect of national planning coordination in recent decades. The decentralization process, while promoting regional autonomy, has led to an underestimation of the importance of coordinating national and regional plans. The human development index shows improvement but remains stagnant in crucial areas like education, indicating issues in delivering public services. Existing laws related to regional finance and decentralization are still evolving, and the budgeting process may deviate due to a divided decision-making structure.

The need for harmonization in national and regional development planning is emphasized, requiring alignment in both vertical and horizontal dimensions. The role of BAPPENAS (the coordinating agency for national planning development now Ministry of National Planning) is limited, especially after the annual planning phase, due to political interventions. The programme proposes a planning system categorized into social reform, policy analysis, social learning, and social mobilization, with an ideal system being based on communitarian collectivism.

The lack of integration in sectoral planning, particularly in spatial planning, is highlighted, and there is a call for the integration of national and regional development planning systems. The programme points out disharmonies such as conflicting regulations, mismatched planning and budgeting cycles, weak linkages, coordination problems, and inadequate capacities. The current national budgeting system is described as input-based rather than performance-based.

The challenges include limited time for planning, inconsistent data flow, and the need for structurally measured and realistic planning. The importance of monitoring and evaluation is stressed, along with the need for outcome-based planning. The programme suggests that BAPPENAS's position as a planning coordinator should be strengthened and centralized to improve national development planning and budgeting. As regional planning analyst for UNDP, my job is to led the analysis of the current regional planning system and method and support the implementation of new approach based on the findings.