ICMA is seeking members and subject matter experts to present for a webinar series with Indonesian district/local government staff as part of the USAID ERAT program. Seasoned speakers that can easily repeat a presentation, those looking for opportunities to practice public speaking, and everyone in-between is welcome. This low-pressure, high-impact webinar series is a great chance to share innovative case studies, good practices, and personal experiences in local government. 

In collaboration with the Asia Foundation (TAF), ICMA is implementing the USAID "Effective, Efficient, and Strong Governance Program (ERAT)" program, a 5-year USAID-funded program that works with the Government of Indonesia (GOI), six provinces and thirty districts (local authorities) to improve local service delivery and national policy implementation.  

Crucial to the success of the USAID ERAT program, ICMA mobilized a group of 30 district facilitators to identify and facilitate various reforms/solutions in each project district that will improve local governance and service delivery. The district facilitators are embedded within these Indonesian districts and have expressed the need for more formal platforms to interact with global experts and discuss global good practices in a series of technical areas that would benefit the work they do in communities.  Topics identified include:

• Digital transformation in public services. Ensuring a citizen-centric approach to digital governance and communication, including such services as technology integration, process automation, data-driven decision making, interconnected systems, cybersecurity, mobile phone accessibility, open data initiatives, etc.
• Strategy and technique of policy advocacy. Persuading policymakers and elected officials to support project initiatives developed to become government agendas, policies, and budget allocations (i.e. bringing out-of-school children back to school or enlisting the private sector to reduce stunting)

In response, the ERAT team is designing a monthly district facilitator capacity strengthening webinar series covering these key topics and is putting out a call for presenters from the ICMA member community who bring specific expertise in the topics of interest listed above. No international or Indonesian expertise required.  Due to the time zone difference, webinars are anticipated to take place at 8 p.m. EST every last Thursday of the month for 1.5 hours, with interpreters to support in Bahasa Indonesia and English. 

If you are interested in sharing your expertise on one of the aforementioned topics, contact Katie Bartels, senior program manager, at kbartels@icma.org or fill out the form below so we can reach out to you to discuss.