By Laurel MacLaren

The transformation of Indonesia’s political system in the past decade has included a radical overhaul of the country’s governance structure. What some have dubbed the “Big Bang,” responsible for decentralizing a range of public services to the country’s 500 plus regions, has made Indonesia one of the most decentralized countries in the world. Nine years after the decentralization law took effect; however, it is debatable whether efforts to strengthen local governance have indeed improved access to services, particularly for women and the poor.
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By John J. Brandon

While emerging diseases like H1N1, also known as swine flu, dominate headlines, dengue fever is quietly exacting a far more devastating toll on public health than the swine flu. While there have been more than 525,000 swine flu cases worldwide in 2009 leading to 9,800 deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 50 million people were infected by the dengue virus in 2009, and approximately 25,000 of them died.
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Royal Danish Ambassador to Indonesia Børge Petersen announced Monday a $10 million grant from the Danish government to promote good governance and reduce corruption in Indonesia. The Asia Foundation is one of four organizations that will carry out the work over the next three years. At a ceremony in Jakarta, (see photo) the Ambassador signed agreements with The Asia Foundation and each of the three other organizations.

Royal Danish Ambassador to Indonesia Borge Petersen (second left) with Transparency International Indonesia Secretary General Teten Masduki (left), The Asia Foundation's Country Representative in Indonesia Robin Bush (second right) and Kemitraan (Partnership for Governance Reform) Executive Director Wicaksono Sarosa (right) during a ceremony held at his residence.

The Foundation will partner with 12 local NGOs to launch a new project to work with religious and other community leaders, the police, civil servants, and religious courts to promote human rights and civic values.

Read more in The Jakarta Post.

By John J. Brandon

On November 15, after the APEC Leaders meeting, President Barack Obama will meet with the leaders of all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the first-ever U.S.-ASEAN summit. For the past 12 years, both the Clinton and Bush administrations resisted calls for a U.S.-ASEAN summit over concern that because Burma is a member of ASEAN, such a summit would amount to acceptance of bilateral talks with Burma. The Obama Administration has said they are not going to punish the other nine ASEAN members simply because Burma is in the room, and has been careful to say this is not a bilateral. Since taking office in January, the Obama administration has shown from the start that it wishes to engage Southeast Asia in a more comprehensive manner, through ASEAN, rather than as a set of 10 bilateral relationships. This is both significant and welcome.
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By John J. Brandon

From 2002 to 2006, The Asia Foundation implemented a series of exchanges for 80 promising young professionals from Southeast Asia and the United States to help develop a better understanding of one another’s region. This program was initiated by the Foundation because of concern that fewer Americans had been involved with Southeast Asia since the end of the Vietnam War and subsequently were less familiar with the region’s nuances and complexities. Consequently, a younger generation of Southeast Asians had limited exposure to the United States and their understanding has been limited as well.
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By John Brownlee

Two billion dollars a year. Ever since the U.S. economy soured over a year ago, we have been bombarded with figures in the hundreds of billions and in the trillions – numbers most of us cannot really comprehend except in the most abstract ways. Compared to these figures, two billion doesn’t really seem like a whole lot. But put in more concrete terms, in Indonesia it is enough to send three million children to school or to build 14,000 local health clinics.

Two billion dollars is also how much Muslims in Indonesia give each year through various forms of Islamic philanthropy.
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“Today, Nahdlatul Ulama, with some 40 million followers, has the distinction of being the largest Islamic group in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country—Indonesia…. To understand why, look no further than Robin Bush’s new book, Nahdlatul Ulama and the Struggle for Power within Islam and Politics in Indonesia,” reads a Wall Street Journal review of The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Indonesia and expert on Islam, politics, and development Robin Bush’s latest book. Read the full review, “The Battle for Indonesian Islam.”

The devastation from two earthquakes near the Indonesian city and West Sumatran capital of Padang continues to mount and the death toll has climbed well past 1,000. The neighboring town of Pariaman was destroyed. On Sunday, Typhoon Ketsana struck the main island of Luzon in the Philippines and caused devastating flooding in Manila, killing hundreds. The Philippines now awaits the arrival of Supertyphoon Parma, expected to hit land October 3. Frustration is mounting among victims competing for food and emergency supplies as the government struggles to help the more than half a million people dislocated by the worst flooding in 40 years. Ketsana wreaked havoc as it swept across Southeast Asia, killing many in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Meanwhile, a deadly tsunami, triggered by an underground earthquake, hit the Samoan islands on Tuesday.

In response, Give2Asia, The Asia Foundation’s affiliate, is working on the ground with its network of local partners across Southeast Asia to identify where donors can best provide relief and recovery assistance through local charitable organizations. They are tracking several disasters in the region. To donate visit Give2Asia’s website.

TIME Magazine’s recent story, “Indonesia’s Islamic Schools: More and More, Female Friendly,” features Asia Foundation Jakarta-based expert Lies Marcoes, who is credited with developing a course for teaching gender equality in Islam. The piece focuses on feminism in Indonesia and the increasing leadership role that women play in Islamic schools there. Read the full story.

Asia Foundation Country Representative in Indonesia, Robin Bush, is an expert on Islam, politics, and development in Indonesia and wrote the book Nahdlatul Ulama and the Struggle for Power within Islam and Politics in Indonesia, She spoke with National Geographic Magazine’s Michael Finkel about the cultural and political roles Islam plays in Indonesia. In the piece Dr. Bush says, “Islam in Indonesia is a huge tent under which all voices can talk to each other.” Read the full article.