Local Monitoring System in Indonesia: With Special Reference to the BKKBN System

1. Local Monitoring System in Indonesia:With Special Reference to the BKKBN System Sudarno Sumarto The SMERU Research Institute Jakarta - Indonesia www.smeru.or.id

2. Background • Efforts to monitor social impacts and development projects in Indonesia have traditionally relied on the national socio-economic survey (SUSENAS ) or village potential census (PODES). • The economic crisis in 1997 forced Indonesia to establish a social safety net program (SSN) for the first time in its history. • SUSENAS and PODES were unable to respond to the quickly-changing crisis environment. By the time survey results came out, they were already obsolete.

3. Background(continued) • In addition, both SUSENAS & PODES can not be used to identify eligible individual beneficiaries. • To meet the need for micro (household) level data, the government turned to BKKBN data.

4. Areas and Major Programs of SSN

5. Inventory of Monitoring Efforts during the Crisis • CRP’s NGO Mapping • SMERU’s Kecamatan Crisis Impact Survey • SMERU’s Community-based Monitoring • BPS’ SUSENAS • BPS & Unicef’s 100 Village Survey • RAND’s IFLS2+

6. BKKBN (National Family Planning Coordinating Agency) Background • It was established in 1970 to monitor the FP (Family Planning) program. • The first national FP survey began in 1985 and has been conducted annually ever since. • Family welfare and demographic characteristics sections were added starting in 1994.

7. BKKBN Family Welfare Section • BKKBN maintains a list of every family in the country with an indicator of “welfare” status based on a mix of variables (‘able to eat twice a day’ ‘change of clothing’ ‘able to fulfill religious obligations’). • Overall there are 23 welfare indicators. • The indicators are used to categorize families into 5 welfare status (‘pre-prosperous’ ‘just prosperous’ ‘ prosperous 2’ ‘prosperous 3’ ‘prosperous 3 plus’).

8. BKKBN Family Welfare Section(continued) • In addition to the SSN program, other programs that have used the data from the BKKBN family welfare: • Family Savings Program (Takesra) • Family Credit Program (Kukesra) • National Foster Parents Movement (GN-OTA) • Medical assistance for the poor • Housing assistance for the poor

9. Preparation Data Collection Mapping Reporting Stakeholder meeting Evaluation Supporting programs Analysis BKKBN Data Gathering System

10. Data Collection & Reporting Process

11. Strengths of BKKBN Data • The only micro data in Indonesia that includes data from almost every household. • As of 2002, the data cover 197.5 million individuals (total population 210 million). • Collected by locals, which ensures its accuracy and comprehensiveness. • In 2000, about 1 million cadre groups conducted the survey, assisted by 35,000 FP supervisors.

12. Weaknesses of BKKBN Data • Even with computerization starting in 2001, mistakes are unavoidable due to the large amount of data. • High variation in the ability of enumerators affects consistency and quality. • Local subjectivity could play a role. • The data do not capture transitory shocks to income.

13. Weaknesses of BKKBN Data (continued) • Questionable subjective welfare criteria. • Composition of data is susceptible to changes by local government officials. • Suffers from lack of funding.

14. How Accurate is BKKBN Data? Comparison with consumption-based measures of household welfare at the district level in 3 provinces

15. How Accurate is BKKBN Data? (continued) Comparison with consumption-based measures of household welfare at the household level using the 100 Village Survey (SSD)

16. How Accurate is BKKBN Data? (continued)

17. How Accurate is BKKBN Data? (continued) • The conclusion is that although BKKBN is quite accurate at the district-level, it misses the target at the household-level. • There is quite a large discrepancy between BKBBN welfare classification and welfare measured by consumption at the household level. • Since interventions are aimed at households, this means using BKKBN for such interventions is insufficient.

18. Concluding Remarks • Targeting is not as easy as it is often suggested. • The BKKBN monitoring system was the most widely used targeting tool as it is the most comprehensive CBM system in the country. • At the household level, there is a large degree of discrepancy between BKKBN welfare classification and consumption-based welfare classification. • In order to remedy this discrepancy, a new scoring system or a composite index needs to be explored by combining a number of BKKBN’s 23 welfare variables with other variables.