As part of the USAID IUWASH PLUS series of strategic workshops, the project organized a policy dialog on citizen engagement mechanism (CEM) in Jakarta on October 21, 2021.
This dialog aimed at advocating the relevant ministries to fulfill citizens’ rights safely managed water and sanitation and seeking possibilities to sustain and scaling up the citizen engagement mechanism.
The event began with opening remarks from the COR of USAID IUWASH PLUS, Ms. Trigeany Linggoatmodjo, and a keynote speech from the Director of Housing and Settlement of the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, Ms. Tri Dewi Virgiyanti.
In her key note speech, Ms. Tri Dewi Virgiyanti, highlighted that appropriate demand from communities to have good facilities is one of the keys to WASH development.
During the good practice sharing session, USAID IUWASH PLUS’ partners shared their experiences in implementing the citizen CEM and how this mechanism contributes to WASH access improvements in their regions.
“We use social media to disseminate a lot of useful information to communities. We are partnering with USAID IUWASH PLUS to campaign water and sanitation access. As a result, domestic wastewater management plants are built and communities improve their hygiene practices,” Eko Zainuddin, a member of the Community Information Group in Sukun urban village in Malang city mentioned benefits of the citizen engagement mechanism.
Similarly, representatives from Bappeda and Diskominfo of Barru district are also benefitted from the citizen engagement mechanism. They explained that the radio talk shows are effective for the local government to disseminate information, collect people’s feedback, and increase public trust.
During the discussion on sustainability, the Assistant to the Information System Deputy of the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, Mr. Yanuar Akhmad, mentioned that there is a possibility to add a category in the LAPOR SP4N to accelerate the response to WASH complaints/aspirations.
The Sub-Coordinator of the Social Communication Partnership of the Ministry of Communication and Information, Ms. Angki Kusuma Dewi, explained that the community information groups and public information facilitators (Penyuluh Informasi Publik) in the USAID IUWASH PLUS supported districts/cities can be involved in WASH promotion.
The Coordinator of the Substance of Community Empowerment of the Ministry of Health, Ms. Hana Herawati, agreed that community participation plays an essential role in improving WASH access. The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas as the Head of Pokja AMPL will include the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform and the Ministry of Communication and Information in the working group.
The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas as the Head of Pokja AMPL will include the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform and the Ministry of Communication and Information in the working group.
The discussion moderator and the public policy observant, Mr. Agus Pambagio, suggested there should be a policy paper to support the involvement of the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, the Ministry of Communications and Information, and the Ministry of Home Affairs in the citizen engagement mechanism for WASH improvement. He also suggested involvement of private sector to sustain the mechanism.
Participating in the event—which was held online and offline, were 200 people, among others are representatives the relevant ministries/institutions, local governments, and community members from USAID IUWASH PLUS’ partners.
