Indonesia Urban Local Governance Reform Program

In support of a World Bank effort to identify effective means of evaluating and differentiating among Indonesian local governments, the Capstone team studied and analyzed existing approaches to capacity and performance assessment. The goal is to assist in the development of an evaluation methodology that can be used by World Bank and the Government of Indonesia in selecting participants for the Indonesia Urban Local Governace Reform Program and moving them through a progressive reform process. The Capstone team is reviewing the following major evaluation approaches that reflect multiple perspectives involved in the decentralization process: credit rating mechanisms; integrative capacity assessment frameworks used by international donors; comparative performance measurement practices; governance measurement strategies; journalist reports; participatory citizen appraisals; and fiscal decentralization evaluation and selection approaches (experience of Russian Federation). The challenge for the World Bank is to clearly understand the existing models and decide how to shape its approach to differentiation of local governments in Indonesia. Guided by the World Bank, the Capstone team formulated preliminary suggestions on how to use/adjust the existing evaluation mechanisms in the complex environment of decentralization in Indonesia.