Project Indonesia
For almost four decades, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation has served the Indonesian public through capacity building on good governance as well as training and advocacy work in the areas of democracy, human rights, rule of law and market economy.
Currently, our activities can be divided into three areas: capacity building on good governance, advanced training workshops for politicians and parliamentarians, as well as campaigns for property rights as a means to reduce poverty in Indonesia.
We invest much of our resources on the promotion of good governance by conducting capacity-building workshops on the development of Indonesian regencies and municipalities for mayors and governors, village leaders and social stakeholders. We introduce participatory planning methods that make local development efforts more sustainable.
With local parliaments, we hold discussions on various aspects of parliamentary reform among young MPs and members of political parties. We conduct capacity-building workshops for MPs and government officials at the provincial and district levels. They cover topics such as poverty reduction, good governance, economic development, budget preparation, how to attract investment, how to manage resources, and so on.
We have faith in the possibility that Indonesia can further develop freedom and democracy. We have trust in the abilities of young politicians to become forces of change.
Through our partner organisations, we bring together young politicians to discuss and debate on various issues such as constitutional limits, political financing, political party laws, and election laws. The goal is to increase transparency within individual political parties and to expand the level-playing field of younger or less influential members in political parties with highly hierarchical structures.
This also includes capacity-building workshops for young politicians and party executives. They cover topics such as election campaigns, dealing with the media, how to spot irregularities in government budgets, how to give an interview, fund-raising, and public speaking.
All the while, we pursue advocacy work to promote liberal values for the purpose of advancing economic freedom. In cooperation with the Jakarta-based Freedom Institute, we support radio programmes. Here, academics, political analysts, NGO activists and politicians are invited to air their views on the market economy and how it can serve consumers the best.
As part of our commitment to advancing economic freedom, we campaign for legal guarantees of property rights, especially for the poor. Citizen watch initiatives help monitor protection of the poor’s right to secure opportunities to improve their living standard and economic well-being without undue interference. This is led by the belief that only a rights-based society can thrive and develop.
For the promotion of our values we support Indonesian-language websites and weblogs that invite Indonesians to get involved and share their opinions on issues that matter to their country. We also sponsor trainings for mid-career journalists and university students, conducted by the Freedom Institute.
At the regional level, we support the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, the Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia, the Economic Freedom Network Asia and the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism in contributing toward a freer and more democratic Asia.
