parallel session ii: theme c - "institutions"

Chaired by Mr. Agus Pramusinto, this session focused on institutions in Public Administration. The presenters for this session were Ms. Elgiwe Iman Aninayon, Mr. Rustan Amarullah and Mr. Zuliansyah Putra Zulkarnain .

Ms. Aninayon's presentation was on the Effectiveness of the Mindanao Rural Development Program Community Fund for Agricultural Development (MDRP-CFAD) in Increasing Income and Achieving Food Security Among Bukidnon Women. ​The main subject of her study is MRDP-CFAD, a community program in the Philippines introduced in 2007 for the benefit of women and indigenous communities in Mindanao that aims to increase agricultural production and efficiency, improve and sustain rural income, and strengthen food security. Her study attempted to assess the effectiveness of MRDP-CFAD in attaining these objectives; determine how personal, socioeconomic, psychological, and supportive factors influence effectiveness; and identify problems shared by women farmers in the implementation of the program. Interestingly, the women farmers found the MRDP-CFAD less effective in improving crop productivity, and yet the farmers felt they were food secure and did not experience hunger. Among the key factors that were found to have great influence on the effectiveness of MRDP-CFAD are the relevance of program strategies, competence of implementers, usefulness of program monitoring, and availability of farm inputs. Meanwhile, foremost among the problems faced by the women farmers with regard to MRDP-CFAD implementation is the access to local markets. Additionally - from what she gathered from her research, she also made a few recommendations to improve MRDP-CFAD.

On the other hand, Mr. Amarullah's presentation was on Reward for Public: A Public Service Engineering. Mr. Amarullah offered a new perspective in improving public services—rewarding the public or the citizens in exchange for their active contribution and willingness to engage with the bureaucracy, which, according to him, greatly determine the effectiveness and responsiveness of the public sector to citizens’ needs. He also believes that this would make interaction with the government more of a way of life rather than just an option for the citizens, and would, in turn, deepen their participation and make it more meaningful for the citizens.

​Additionally, Mr. Zulkairnain presented a study conducted by his colleagues. The study is about Protecting Merit System in Indonesia: Blockages and Prospective for Professional Civil Service The research sought to trace the evolution of the Indonesian merit system and determine the obstacles and opportunities that would shape the Indonesian civil service in the future. Through literature review, the researchers assumed that the Indonesian merit system needs to step up in strengthening integrity and professionalism and protecting against political interference and abuse of power. According to them, it is this idea of the bureaucracy that citizens aspire for. The findings revealed many challenges in implementing the Indonesian civil service system, which include, among others, political intervention in the appointment of individuals to high leadership positions, and ghost programs for talent management information systems. Based on the results, Mr. Zulkarnain suggested that measures for ensuring impartiality and, at the same time, equal opportunity, in civil service management systems need to be put in place. Mr. Zulkarnain admitted that the process of changing the bureaucracy is not done overnight; nonetheless, the goal to create a professional civil service system should remain the focus of the said change.