Community Participation: A Key to Success in The Kampung KB Program in Indonesia

Summary:

Launched nationwide in 2016, Kampung KB Program is a means to empower community in improving health, economics, education, housing, the environment, and other issues in order to achieve a better quality of life, starting from family planning. This program is a combination of top down and bottom up approaches that emphasize on community participation rather than government's involvement. Under the MyChoice project starting in 2017, the collaboration of (National Population and Family Planning Board) BKKBN and Johns Hopkins CCP Indonesia has provided technical assistance to four local provincial governments and 11 districts to implement Kampung KB. In MyChoice intervention area, two local willing volunteers admitted by the local stakeholders are committed to change their community and then trained to be Kampung Facilitators (FK). Together with the family planning officers (PKB), these FKs are responsible in facilitating the community in all process of Kampung KB. In Kampung KB Program, the community participation is critical in the process of not only identifying the needs, but also of finding realistic and feasible methods to improve their situation. The existence/availability of a local champion who acts as a change agent, in a community-led initiative like Kampung KB is vital to ensure the continuous community involvement. When the change agent comes from within the community, even with limited support and facilitation from outside sources such as the government, the program is highly likely to sustain.

Background/Objectives

Kampung KB is a presidential initiative launched in 2016 led by BKKBN which was expected to be the center of development programs at the village level. It uses a combination of bottom up and top down approaches emphasizing on the bottom up approach. Compared with other government's program where most of the time, the government decides what's best for the community including the type of activities that should be done; in Kampung KB, the community is expected to be in charge, more actively involved in the program and, therefore, will contribute more than the government.

The implementation of Kampung KB program is one of the responsibilities of the family planning field officer (PKB) where he/she ensures that the village implements all the stages as indicated in the national guidelines for Kampung KB. On the other hand, the core of Kampung KB program is engaging and involving the community in a systematic process ranging from planning to implementation for a better quality of life. The MyChoice project developed a model for implementing Kampung KB and ensuring the process is indeed community-led. Two local people are chosen and trained to be Kampung Facilitators (FK) and also act as change agents to encourage and ensure this active and continuous participation. Facilitated by family planning officers (Petugas Keluarga Berencana) and the FKs, the community then, identify their problems and potentials, and collectively plan and mobilize resources to improve their situation based on their goals and shared visions.

Results/Lessons Learned

Kampung KB is designed to be a community led program but many Kampung KBs are still developed based on the top-down approach where the government is dominant in all the processes and the community is positioned more as an object or a passive recipient and there's no change agent from within the community. Kampung KB that has a change agent within the community is more likely to have a better community participation in terms of degree and quality of participation compared with Kampung KB with no change agent. This is more likely because the change agent is continuously encouraging and working together within the community. Kampung KBs with a strong sense of community participation are, usually, more resilient compared with Kampung KB that relies on top-down facilitation. The changes will start from within the Kampung KB/community even with a limited support from external parties including the government.

Discussion/Implications For The Field

After three years of implementation, according to the Kampung KB website, in October 2019, more than 15.000 Kampung KB have been established throughout Indonesia. Community involvement is vital to ensure that the community feels their perspectives and needs are recognized that would drive them to be more invested and involved in the implementation of the action plan. This can be sustained by the help of FKs that act as change agents from within the community. With their existence, even with limited support and facilitation from external sources such as the government, the program is highly likely to sustain.

Abstract submitted by:

Agung Arnita -  Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) 

Nasri  Yatiningsih

Farah  Adibah

Yusna Afrilda