The title of this article is actually the title of a book by Karl Popper (1950), translated by Uzair Fauzan (2002). Popper, an Austrian philosopher, is widely regarded as the greatest philosopher of the 20th century in the field of the philosophy of science. One of his key ideas regarding democracy is the conceptof the open society. “The Open Society and Its Enemies” is not only the title of the book but also the title of one of its chapters. In this chapter, Popper does not provide a clear description of the enemies he refers to. His writing focuses more on analyzing and critiquing Plato’s ideas (as well as those of Hegel and Marx in other chapters) regarding true happiness, class, and justice.

However, it is clear that the enemies Popper referred to were exclusivity (in the context of that era, tribal societies) and anti-democratic tendencies. In line with Popper, throughout its 22 years of existence, the Tifa Foundation has upheld inclusivity and upheld the values of democracy as inherent to the realization of openness in Indonesia. The principles of transparency and accountability, which stem from these two values, have long served as Tifa’s guiding principles in implementing its programs and managing its organization.

The Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language defines accountability as the state of being responsible; the condition of being held accountable. Meanwhile, transparency can be understood as a condition where there are no hidden agendas and where comprehensive information is readily available. When examined through Tifa’s programs over the past two years, the HEAL Program implemented in East Java and West Nusa Tenggara, as well as the Review Program carried out in Yogyakarta, serve as examples of Tifa’s efforts to foster transparency and accountability—from community groups to government units, ranging from the village level to the national level.

“We support Tifa’s efforts to advocate for the fulfillment of the rights of vulnerable groups through the HEAL program. This is one of the ways we are working to further maximize the provision of social protection for the community in a more effective and transparent manner,” said the Head of the Social Affairs Office of Pasuruan Regency in October 2022.

Transparency and Accountability at the Organization
Since its inception, the principles of transparency and accountability have been the lifeblood of this organization, which was founded in December 2000. These are Tifa’s institutional principles. Organizational governance has been developed by strengtheningchecks and balances and ensuring regular oversight of both program and financial operations. In fact, since Shita Laksmi joined the organization in late 2019, these principles have been further institutionalized.

Shita Laksmi, Executive Director of the Tifa Foundation from November 2019 to December 2022, has been working in the field of transparency and accountability since 2011. Tifa’s internal and external work processes were made more open and participatory. In addition to promoting more structured implementation regarding transparency and accountability, she also introduced one of Tifa’s new approaches: constructive engagement with multiple stakeholders, including the Indonesian government. Many of Tifa’s programs since 2020 have been carried out in collaboration with the Indonesian government and reported openly through Tifa’s communication channels. This collaboration is considered crucial because the challenges faced are becoming increasingly complex and require strategic cooperation with the government. Ultimately, all of this is intended to ensure the realization of an open society.

In addition, in carrying out its role as a grant fund manager, Tifa’s mechanism for distributing funds to recipient civil society organizations is conducted through an open Call for Proposals. This process has been implemented with more than 700 partners across Indonesia. The selection of eligible organizations is carried out through a series of evaluations involving external expert reviewers and independent assessments by the Foundation’s board of directors.

In addition to involving external reviewers in the selection process, Tifa also engages external auditors in every financial statement audit—including those related to grant mechanisms—which are conducted annually.

“In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Yayasan Tifa as of the end of this period, as well as its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with Indonesian Financial Accounting Standards” (Excerpted and adapted from the 2022 Auditor’s Report).

The Tifa Foundation receives this unqualified opinion every year, which serves as an incentive for the organization to continue maintaining its standards and even improving over time. This auditor’s report is included in the organization’s annual report, which is also produced and disseminated to the public each year.

The annual report that we publish each year on the tifafoundation.id website is one of the concrete ways in which Tifa demonstrates its commitment to organizational transparency and accountability toward donors, the government, partner organizations, and, above all, the public.

While for Popper the enemies of an open society are exclusivity and anti-democratic tendencies, for Tifa, the enemies of an open society are the failure to uphold what is at the very heart of Tifa: the principles of transparency and accountability.

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