Political progression toward a more democratic government in Indonesia, along with improvement in education level and per-capita income, has somewhat increased the aptitude to use research, i.e., data and analysis, as the foundation of policy formulation. To a certain extent, this is reflected in the increasing demand for more rigorous background studies for the formulation of the technocratic draft of the 2020–2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN). In addition, Indonesia’s commitment to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which has been advocated down to provincial and district governments, rises demand for more reliable data and analysis at the sub-national levels. To date, SMERU has contributed to meeting this growing demand and will continue to do so.
SMERU aims to fill the gaps in knowledge and data availability by working closely with local government officials in relevant local government working units. This project will carry out activities that will expand and strengthen policy engagement at the national and sub-national levels.
SMERU will conduct two activities in this study:
- Engage with the central government on various issues, especially on RPJMN.
- Provide technical assistant to selected sub-national governments on formulating pro-poor and inclusive development planning policies, including engagement with (a) Kabupaten Pangkajene Kepulauan (Pangkep) and Universitas Islam Makassar, (b) West Nusa Tenggara/SDGs Center, (c) Kabupaten Bangka and Stisipol, and (d) West Java, through piloting the Presidential Regulation No. 16/2018.
