Short Summary: How can budget advocacy effectively combine with gender analysis of budgets and political organisation and citizens’ participation strategies? With capacity building, civil society organisations can understand and influence budget policy and make demands for the end of corruption and for equality and transparency. Through regular collective analysis, technical assistance and training, Asia Foundation-funded work aims to achieve this in three Indonesian cities, involving 13 NGOs, unions and movements. One partner, the Urban Poverty Coalition (UPC), has taken the Mayor of Jakarta to court for not disclosing information about where the funds intended for flood victims had been spent. UPC – with its members including urban slum dwellers, street vendors and pedicab drivers – won the case. Another partner, the research NGO Bandung Institute for Government Studies (BIGS), has focused its budget work on housing problems in slum areas. By bringing in community organisers to work with slum dwellers on their concerns and solutions, their engagement with government on housing problems and solutions is more relevant and has more impact. Women’s groups such as Koalisi and Komnas are planning to propose specific budget allocations and reforms affecting health, justice and other sectors in the anti-domestic violence bill currently under discussion in Parliament. Koalisi is also working on building basic budget literacy in its civic education work. Bringing women’s organisations together with broader-based NGOs without a gender focus has strengthened the political impact of these women’s groups and in turn encouraged the other NGOs to consider women’s needs when encouraging citizen participation.
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