Story from The Field: Contributing for Light
Despite being in the middle of a pandemic, Indonesia has been named the most generous globally. The predicate is pinned by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index 2021.
The World Giving Index (WGI) is an annual report published by the Charities Aid Foundation, using data collected by Gallup. It ranks more than 140 countries worldwide based on their generosity in donating.
In the WGI 2021 report, Indonesia occupies the top 2 ranks out of 3 categories or indicators that become WGI's measurements, namely donating to foreigners/unknown, money, and volunteering activities. The results of CAF's research show that more than 8 (eight) out of 10 Indonesians donated money in 2021, while the level of volunteerism in Indonesia is three times higher than the world average.
The habit of giving and donating seems to be part of the culture in Indonesia. According to the Indonesian Philanthropy Association Director, Hamid Abidin, the pandemic and the economic crisis do not prevent Indonesians from sharing. "The affected communities continue to donate money even though the value of the donation is smaller, or donate in other forms, such as goods and volunteers. It is evident in several social and philanthropic institutions that the number of donations continues to increase. However, the increase is not as high as during normal times," as he said to filantropi.or.id.
A similar opinion was conveyed by Alfatih Timur, CEO of Kitabisa, an online fundraising platform in Indonesia. "We are witnesses (how) we respond to the pandemic together with solidarity and mutual assistance," he said. In 2021 more than 3 million donors donated via the Kitabisa application and assisted more than 36,000 social fund initiatives.
In addition to social initiatives, UNDP carried out fundraising for donations to construct dan rehabilitate communal power plants in 2018. UNDP Indonesia partnered with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to introduce an innovative financing model for clean energy development. The National Amil Zakat Agency of Baznas provided funding assistance of 4.8 billion rupiahs, and Bank Jatim contributed 3.76 billion rupiahs. The funding was used to construct and rehabilitate four micro-hydropower plants with a total capacity of 140kW in Jambi. The plants then provide electricity to 4,488 people, 803 households, and public facilities in four villages in Jambi. This program's success is an example of the "gotong-royong" approach in developing clean energy in Indonesia.
Sophie Kemkazhe, Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Indonesia, said, "The construction of four PLMTH units in Jambi is the first example in Indonesia of rural electricity development under the partnership of UNDP, EBTKE-ESDM, Baznas, private sector (Bank Jambi), and the Government. This electricity development cooperation is essential to empower local communities and increase the achievement of the SDGs."
Building Participation at the Local Level
The experience on the innovative financing encourages ACCESS project includes community contributions as part of the funding for rural clean energy utilization. ACCESS or Accelerating Clean Energy Access to Reduce Inequalities Project is a partnership project between UNDP and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources with funding from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to develop clean energy in Indonesia.
This project aims to provide access to electricity for 20,000 people in Indonesia and Timor-Leste by 2023 by constructing Solar-PV power plants for 23 villages in four provinces in Indonesia and distributing energy-efficient solar lamps for 25 villages in four municipalities in Timor-Leste.
"KOICA stands ready to work for the ACCESS partnership, committed to ensuring access to clean energy and tackling the issue of energy inequality. Under the framework of South-South and Triangular Cooperation between Timor-Leste and Indonesia, the Government of two countries, KOICA and UNDP, will work together with a clear set of common goals so that the ACCESS project can make meaningful progress," said Mr. Jeong Hoe Jin, Country Director of KOICA Indonesia office.
To facilitate community participation in the development of the Solar-PV power plants, ACCESS Project, since September 2021, has deployed village facilitators to assist and increase the capacity of residents in operation and maintenance of the plants.
ACCESS is currently facilitating village consultations regarding the mechanism and the amount of this contribution. "The scheme offered to residents is a fixed contribution with an amount mutually agreed upon by the communities." explained the Technical Officer of ACCESS Institutional Building, Muhammad Febriman Sitepu. The determination of the contribution amount will consider the ability and willingness of residents to pay electricity contribution.
The community is not only contributing to the operation and maintenance costs, but they also provide land for the Solar-PV power plants construction in all development sites. In 16 out of 23 villages, lands provided for the building belong to the community. These contributions are hopes for the project's sustainability.
"People believe that the project will be greatly beneficial for their lives. That is why they are willing to contribute." Said Riodi, head of Muara Ripung Village in Southeast Sulawesi. "We valued their support, and when the fund was available, we bought the land and now is being certified." In Muara Ripung, the land provided previously belonged to the resident, but the village bought and certified the land as public property.
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Author: Salman Nursiwan, Monitoring and Outreach ACCESS Project