THE SPECIFIC ALLOCATION FUND: HOPE OR DISCLAIM? A case study in Indonesia

A central restructuring of intergovernmental relations following decentralization in Indonesia is, among others, about financial system. Unacceptable share of local Budget to family planning is widely occurring. Huge discrepancy is unavoidable. Specific Allocation Fund/SAF allows direct financing from central to the local government limited to finance physical infrastructure. It has been implemented since 2008 with persistent increase in its total budget covering 377 districts. This study aims to analyze the management of the SAF for family planning in 6 provinces during 2010-2011. The information derived from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with various stakeholders at provincial and district levels as well as analysis of current SAF policy and secondary data. Along with the story that SAF provision gives “hope” to the districts, this financing system is temporary to the low resource settings. Even so no guarantee can be hold that rich districts will provide adequate budget for family planning program to survive. A boarder viewpoint need to be considered and the scheme of this financing need to be re-designed in such a way that this fund mechanism empowers districts to be more responsible in bringing the program adaptive to the local demand.