RTI International to Improve Public Service Delivery in Papua, Indonesia

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — RTI International's efforts to enhance the capacity of local governments in Indonesia were recently extended to Papua, Indonesia, through a cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The add-on award, worth nearly $8 million, expands RTI efforts in support of USAID's Kinerja program that has been ongoing elsewhere in Indonesia since 2010.

The Kinerja program builds capacity at the local (or sub-national) level and features incentives to improve accountability and produce measurable enhancements in the way health, education and business development programs are managed and delivered by local service providers.

"This project extends the important work we have been doing to implement USAID's Kinerja program elsewhere in Indonesia," said Nicole Barnes, Kinerja program technical manager at RTI. "We have a great team working on this effort, and we are pleased to see it grow and build on our successes in a new province."

The Kinerja focus in Papua will be exclusively on health service delivery. This includes strengthening leadership and management capacities for health service delivery while enhancing citizens' understanding of their health rights and supporting the demand for health services.

As part of the program, RTI works with sub-national governments in Indonesia to address gaps in local service delivery. With better incentives, greater innovation and more avenues of replication, Indonesian local governments are expected to deliver services that are less expensive and more responsive to local needs and preferences.

Kinerja also works with communities, civil society and local media to demand better service provision. Much of this community engagement work will be undertaken by national or local organizations, who will receive grants and capacity-building support from Kinerja.

Kinerja is one of the first USAID governance projects to pilot randomized selection of districts in its monitoring and impact evaluations. The project is now working in 24 districts within five provinces and anticipates continuing to replicate its successful activities on a national scale over the next three years.