Supporting the FCTC Process in Indonesia

Introduction

Indonesia is currently experiencing a tobacco epidemic. With a smoking prevalence rate of 31.5% (and more than 60% in rural areas), the country has the fifth highest tobacco consumption rate in the world. In addition, tobacco consumption has increased steadily since the 1970s. For example, smoking prevalence among adults 15 years and older increased from 26.9% in 1995, to 31.5% in 2001. Indonesia is also the 7th largest tobacco producing country.

Unfortunately, there has been much apathy on the part of the Government to accede to the FCTC and implement tobacco control policies. In order to build the capacity of NGOs to advocate for tobacco control in Indonesia, the Indonesian Public Health Association, the South East Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), and HealthBridge hosted an advocacy training workshop for potential partners in Indonesia in May 2006.

The objective of the training was to enable advocates to identify and understand priority tobacco control issues in Indonesia, provide them with basic advocacy skills, identify cost-effective resources that could be utilized for advocacy, and develop a concrete issue specific action plan for future advocacy initiatives. Following the training, the Indonesian participant organizations submitted advocacy proposals. SEATCA collaborated with HealthBridge to support four of these proposals through small grants. HealthBridge's Programme Director provided technical assistance as required by those grantees.

Objectives

The overall objectives of the project were:

• To strengthen policy efforts in Indonesia by ensuring the creation and carrying out of concise, strategic plans for the country to accede to and implement the FCTC.
• To support a small, targeted number of NGOs to work directly with government and media on the FCTC.

Results and Impact

The key outcomes achieved through this project were:

1. Pressure built for national and local tobacco control policies

The seed grants with focused and strategic policy goals helped to build momentum and environments conducive to moving forward with the development and implementation of local and national tobacco control policies.

NCCP successfully built a formidable youth pressure group, which in limited time gained media and Government attention. This group in turn has unlimited potential as a stakeholder group in keeping youth concerns on the agenda of the legislators and accelerating the parliamentary legislative process.

IFPPD (the Parliamentarian’s initiative on developmental issues), through this project, has managed to mobilize increased support from key leaders in the Parliament for the tobacco control bill it is piloting in the Parliament.

IPP’s strength is in the provinces and in working with children, parents and the school system. This gives them inroads to the Educational Board that has to formulate the Smoke-free School decree. Having branches in several provinces, IPP’s efforts to make smoke-free school regulations in West Java could potentially become a model for other provinces in Indonesia to initiate local smoke free initiatives, even as the national law is yet to be completed.

The Tobacco Control Source book that has been updated will serve as a resource for various media and policy efforts. It is being referred to in the local tobacco control discussions, even before its formal publication; this indicates its potential to be a credible information source for local and international agencies.

2. Emerging leadership in Indonesian tobacco control fostered

The seed grants enabled the recipients, all recent entrants in Indonesian tobacco control, to gain greater visibility with the media and the Government and within the development community. This will enhance their plans to further improve tobacco control policies in the country. The fact that youth from NCCP were invited to address the media alongside Parliamentarians exemplifies the longer term impact of the project. Tobacco control movement in Indonesia has been able to identify in the Chair of the House of Representatives an advocate for its cause. This could help in mobilising further support in ensuring that the tobacco control bill is highlighted in the Parliament's legislative programme for the coming year.

3. Collaborative partnerships created in Indonesian tobacco control

NCCP and IFPPD worked collaboratively towards their synergetic goals. Their work plans were developed and implemented in a consultative manner. Resources were shared to maximize their efficiency and to avoid potential duplication. The organisations and their constituencies have developed a trusting relationship that could stimulate further collaborative efforts in tobacco control.

4. Contributions made to international tobacco control

Activities supported through the Health Canada-funded small grants have improved the capacity of the grant implementers and increased their visibility in international tobacco control. This in turn could help them to be resources and models for other similar initiatives while also attracting additional resources for their own work.

The NCCP’s Project Officer has come to be closely connected with Essential Action, an international tobacco control network that challenges industry manipulations. She was selected by the network to represent global and Indonesian youth in raising their concerns at the 2007 Altria (formerly Philip Morris) Shareholders Meeting in East Hanover, New Jersey.

IFPPD effectively utilised its membership in Globalink to seek information from countries that have evaluated the impact of FCTC ratification on tobacco farming and employment, for moving the tobacco control bill in their Parliament’s agenda.

The lead author of the Tobacco Control Source book from IPHA has been invited to participate on the Steering Committee of the Global Smoke-Free Partnership.

For more details on these and other results, please see the final report .

Lessons Learned

None noted.

Recommendations

None noted.