Snapshot of Sustainable Development Goals at the Subnational Government Level in Indonesia

By Asian Development Bank

This report assesses how Indonesia is implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the subnational government (SNG) level, identifies gaps and good practices, and outlines ways to speed up progress. It assesses the funding mechanisms and robust legal frameworks governing Indonesia’s SNGs and tracks a consistent pattern of progress across its provinces towards most of the SDGs. The report shows why Indonesia needs to find ways to accelerate progress in disadvantaged regions such as Papua, ramp up institutional capabilities, and drive partnerships with the private sector to ensure its SNGs reach the SDG targets.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Release date: Dec 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9789292703578

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SNAPSHOT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AT THE SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL IN INDONESIA

NOVEMBER 2023

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)

© 2023 Asian Development Bank

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Some rights reserved. Published in 2023.

ISBN 978-92-9270-356-1 (print); 978-92-9270-357-8 (electronic); 978-92-9270-358-5 (ebook)

Publication Stock No. TCS230562

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/TCS230562

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Cover design by Editha Creus.

On the cover: Various scenes showing progress on SDG achievement across the country at the subnational level (All photos by ADB).

Contents

Tables, Figures, and Boxes

Acknowledgments

This report is prepared with the technical and financial support of technical assistance (TA) 6574 administered by the Governance Thematic Group (GTG) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The assessment was guided by SDG Snapshot at the Subnational Government (SNG) level framework prepared by ADB’s GTG, and the technical guidance and advice were provided by ADB’s Rachana Shrestha, public management specialist. Dr. Bernadia Tjandradewi, secretary general of the United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific Chapter (UCLG-ASPAC), also provided policy context to the assessment and ensured active participation of UCLG-ASPAC staff in the development of this paper. The assessment was undertaken by Farrukh Moriani and Triarko Nurlambang, consultants hired under the TA.

The assessment team also acknowledges insights and advice from Mohd. Sani Mohd. Ismail, director, Finance Sector Group, ADB; Sameer Khatiwada,senior public management economist, Public Sector Management and Governance Group, ADB and Deeny Uli Rosa Simanjuntak, senior project officer, ADB Indonesia Resident Mission. Additionally, the assessment benefited from the inputs from Rainer Rohdewohld, lead consultant, ADB-TA 9837; civil society organizations such as The Asia Foundation, Tanoto Foundation, BAZNAS, IZI, NU; private sector organizations including KADIN, UGCN, IBCSD, FBI4SDGs; directors and staff of SDG centers in various universities; and citizens who participated in the online survey. The team is grateful for the support from Hendra Adi, training coordinator at UCLG-ASPAC who was instrumental in coordinating meeting with key stakeholders and provided inputs to the report. In addition, several colleagues at the SDGs Hub University of Indonesia deserve to be acknowledged: the research and analysis carried out by Nurmala N. on financial and fiscal issues were very valuable; Dewanti Aisyah’s tireless support in various forms, including the difficult task of helping compile non-state actor information and on sector-wise implementation was of immense help; Radhe Ayu Ratih for organizing meetings, the most efficient management of the online survey, and for contributing to additional research on short notice; Edina Zamira for providing coordination and documentation support; and our team of interpreters whose services proved most useful during fieldwork.

Abbreviations

Executive Summary

Despite the challenges of its elaborate and decentralized governance structure, Indonesia has been among the frontline Asian countries when it comes to embedding the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in its planning, implementation, and budgeting systems. There is an elaborate legal framework in place to guide SDG localization, but a clearer policy focus has yet to be established. Compared to the national level, subnational governments (SNGs) have comparatively weaker institutional arrangements for SDG policy, strategy, and planning. Overall, the pace and quality of SDG localization is dependent on progress on decentralization policy reforms. To ensure that the Leave No One Behind principle translates into more even progress on SDG achievement across the country, greater flexibility is needed in financing, planning, and budgeting policies at the subnational level so that the alignment of SNG priorities with national agendas is not at the expense of reducing local autonomy or local political vision.

Several innovations in practice have been introduced but require greater SNG involvement and ownership. This includes the SDG centers established in universities across Indonesia, which are intended to support SNGs for improving planning, budgeting, and oversight. Clearer institutional arrangements between the centers and the SNGs, and a more defined mechanism of support may allow the centers to provide better and more consistent support to SNGs.

Likewise, the One Data (Satu Data) initiative is excellent, and critical for better access to quality data, but if it is to achieve its goals, strengthening of SNGs’ institutional capacities needs to be given top priority, along with the institution of standardized data governance protocols at all levels of government to avoid multiplicity of data collection methods and tools, enable improved measurement of progress at SNG level on SDG localization, and create the basis for more open data governance.

The financing framework for the SNGs is extensive; a review of allocation criteria and incentives for SNGs could strengthen it further. The recent enactment of Law No. 1 of 2022 is a welcome step to address these fiscal allocations and incentivization issues. Plugging leakages in public procurement, and expanding use of blended finance, Zakat, and impact bonds—all of which are being pursued by the government through its SDG Finance Hub—could prove critical for enhancing funding