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2.5. Role of CSOs
Using local CSOs as an entry point for strengthening civil society groups for local good governance is very strategic. Local CSOs who live and work in the focus areasdistricts proved to be one of the
assets for local democratic governance. Synergies between local civil society groups with government officials trigger local governance changes and more effective targeting of resources for poverty
reduction. CSOs are also strengthening government’s own cadre system by working with Posyandu cadresvolunteers. Over time the Posyandu Pos Pelyanan Terpadu or Integrated Service Post
originally established to address a broad range of issues have become limited to children and neo natal care services. Through engagement with ACCESS, cadres have shown they have capacity and
motivation to participate in a broader service role. There has been a revitalisation of these village posts into something closer to their original concept of Pusat Informasi dan Mediasi Desa, including
addressing public service issues and even extending in some cases to become learning centers for economic activities.
Community response towards the role of CSOs and cadres is very positive. Working through CSOs and village cadres has been highly successful in providing new hope to citizens. Akatiga’s discussions
with cadres revealed that almost 90 see CSO support as either significant or very significant while the Community Survey shows that 84.3 of respondents perceive the support of cadres to be highly
significant. The study found some variations among CSOs in terms of capacity and commitment with substantial weaknesses in North Buton where CSOs are generally still new, which combined with low
level of government support meant that the impacts felt by citizens in that district were less than in other locations.
Intensity of CSO facilitationmentoring at the village level is a contributing factor to empowerment. The study found that empowerment outcomes knowledge and capacity
improvements were linked to intensive facilitation at the village level, which enabled transfer of knowledge and building cadres and citizen capacities as governance actors. For example, in Kupang in
NTT, intensive facilitation from Bengkel APPeK for participatory planning and budgeting saw the development of village discussion fora where citizens regularly exchange ideas on their concerns.
Where the empowerment outcomes were less visible or satisfactory for cadres and citizens this seemed to be because CSOs had not provided quality or intensity of facilitation. In the few cases
where this occured, reasons included CSOs strategy of focusing on a select number of villages at one time, changing their focus to advocacy work or getting caught up in implementing activities on behalf
of district governments. In a small number of cases, as board members or ex‐directors were elected to the DPRD, their organisation was conscripted into implementing “projects” on their behalf that
distracted them from their Action Plans. The level to which CSO has ‘roots’ in the community affects intensity of facilitation. A high level
intensity of facilitation was seen where CSOs have roots in the village, competent community organisers come to or stay in the village and the CSO is experienced in facilitating citizens on similar
issues. The long standing experience of CSO partners working in the area of LED including ASPUK, Jarpuk and Berugak Desa also contributed significantly to success of these interventions. They have
been able to capitalise on ACCESS support to expand their networks to government and the market, adding to their previous capacities for community organising. There was one less successful case in
Takalar due to poor facilitation on the part of the CSO partner. Supporting membership based CBOs helps create effective program partnerships. ACCESS has also
successfully supported membership organisations to carry out empowerment programs. For example, JARPUK groups in Kupang recieve significant attention on strengthening their sense of
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belonging prior to focusing on economic issues
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. It was also evident that working with community based organisations CBOs offers strong potential for developing intervillage networks, such as
Jarpuk NTT and NTB, Berugak Dese NTB, Asosiasi Mareje Bonga NTB, AKUEP and GP3A South Sulawesi and Kelompok Majelis Taklim Buton Utara, all of which are well regarded by their
communities. ACCESS is flexible in its investment in CSO capacity development. ACCESS’ goal was to promote
citizen‐government engagement and citizen empowement rather than strengthen CSOs and a rigorous selection process of CSOs enabled the Program to identify partners with reasonable track
records in many cases although there were areas where this capacity was not strong such as North Buton. The Program retained flexibility to provide different levels of capacity development through
tailored support to meet diffferent needs and the study found only a couple of CSOs that were regarded as underperforming by their constituents, both in participatory planning and budgetting
area.
2.6. Role of Cadres
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