21 Years of Tifa Foundation: Developing a Brighter Legacy in Democracy

Indonesia is a multicultural country with various ethnic groups, each with its own social structure, norms, customs, and values. Therefore, with all those diversities, we can consider Indonesia as a country full of hope for human rights fulfilment for everyone regardless of their differences.

In this context, how can the government ensure that policies are made with inclusive optics? How can the government be sure that its policies and programmes do not discriminate against any of the diverse communities? And how we as a part of the community can help those who are voiceless so the policymaker and the general public can hear them, became our founder’s inspiration to establish Tifa Foundation in the year of 2000. Since then, we have been driven by the aspiration of society, marginalized people, and communities who have been actively involved in promoting democracy, human rights, and social justice.

Tifa Foundation celebrates its 21st anniversary this year, an important milestone for us to reflect on past achievements and future challenges. On this occasion, we would like to offer our gratitude and appreciation to our partners, stakeholders, and everyone who has always been with us in supporting democracy, human rights, and social justice in Indonesia. Also, allow us to extend special thanks to our staff who ​​show their grit, passion and become the backbones of the movements we initiate.

​​Today, Tifa continues to work through programs that aim to contribute towards the fulfilment of democracy and human rights in Indonesia. We have several flagship programs that actively encourage public participation in the fields mentioned before. For instance, we are implementing “HEAL” project to promote human rights and equality to achieve sustainability in East Java and West Nusa Tenggara. At the same time, we also foster good governance practice based on the principles of transparency, accountability, integrity, participation, and effectiveness through the “Program Review” project run in Yogyakarta.

In addition, Tifa also put the importance of data governance and data protection in Indonesia under the organization’s radar. We believe that protecting data nowadays means safeguarding fundamental rights, such as respect for privacy, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly. To make sure these rights remain part of the discussion as we build our digital future, Tifa conducted research that sought to map the challenges and opportunities, as well as provide suggestions to the policymakers on realizing a meaningful data regulation in Indonesia.

More challenges, more opportunities, and hopefully more achievements. We expect to face those aspects in our future journey. In the future, we will continue our efforts in building an environment where we can voice our opinions freely without being afraid. Through our initiatives, we will fight for a civic space where the communities can express themselves without fear of being arrested or intimidated. We aspire to make a new leap in promoting an open society in Indonesia as the ultimate resource of democracy.

Again, we sincerely appreciate your support. As we acknowledge that we still have much work ahead of us, we firmly believe that your support can bring us closer to our goal of promoting democracy and civic engagement throughout Indonesia.

Regards,

Shita Laksmi
Executive Director, Tifa Foundation

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