Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – A survey published on Thursday revealed that the public has grown suspicious of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) active in the country.
The survey, jointly conducted by public relations firm Edelman Trust Barometer in collaboration with the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), shows that steadily declining public trust in NGOs has reached "an unusually low level".
In the survey, conducted between October and November last year, Edelman found that only 51 percent of 1,200 respondents said they trusted NGOs operating in the country. The figure was a drop from last year's 53 percent and 2011's 61 percent.
The study also concluded that the level of public trust in NGOs in the country is below the global level of 63 percent. NGO's in the country's closest neighbor Malaysia, registered an approval rating of 76 percent, while in China the figure stands at a staggering 81 percent.
Edelman Indonesia vice chairman and head of consulting Bambang Chriswanto said factors contributing to the low public support for the NGOs included poor internal management and lack of capacity-building among not-for-profit organizations.
"A lot of these organizations have shown great progress in transforming their organizations, but the challenge is that many of them are unable to articulate their narrative about their policies and actions – in such critical areas as employee relations, ethics or governance – as well as they should to their stakeholders here in Indonesia," Bambang said Thursday.
Bambang added that most of the respondents, even those who were well-educated and had access to information, had little knowledge of NGO programs or their benefactors.
Several respondents also expressed concern that some NGO activists had failed to live up to the values promoted by their organizations.
The survey also found that the public put more trust in the media and businesses, which registered approval ratings of 77 percent and 74 percent respectively.
Contacted separately, executive director for human rights watchdog Imparsial Poengky Indarti said she could understand if people had grown wary of NGOs.
"I can understand if many of the respondents are unaware of the contributions NGOs have made to the country's development. But some stakeholders in these organizations, including victims of rights abuses, will certainly have a different opinion about this," Poengky told The Jakarta Post.
Poengky said that the survey's findings should serve as a wake-up call for NGOs operating in the country to make improvements.
Chief of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), Yuniyanti Chuzaifah said the criticism of the country's NGOs was unfair.
"Some of these NGOs are well trusted by members of the community. They have faithfully served the people regardless of whether they get recognition or not. I wonder which NGOs the survey referred to because not all groups are part of the genuine civil society movement," Yuniyanti said.